


A First Hot Case Together

by RainbowSeverus



Series: "Hot" Series [2]
Category: Stephanie Plum - Janet Evanovich
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-18
Updated: 2016-01-18
Packaged: 2018-05-14 20:32:42
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 27,423
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5757559
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RainbowSeverus/pseuds/RainbowSeverus
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is the long awaited sequel to "One Hot July Night". Ranger (Ric) and Steph work together on her first BEA case, cop on the run, Joe Morelli. Multi-chapter story, planning on being around 10 chapters at the moment.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> A/N : And now begins the follow-up story to "One Hot July Night". This is my take on "One for the Money". I hope you all enjoy it, review either way, lol Thank-you in advance. Rain (Jackie)

RPOV (Ric)  
I couldn't believe my eyes when I walked into the diner today. I never expected to see her again after all these years, but here she is sitting across the table from me. Looks like holding onto a sliver of hope payed off. She hasn't changed too much, still as beautiful as I remember, her hair is a little longer and darker, her figure is still the same stunning shape, and her eyes are the same exact electrifying blue. As I glance over the table into her eyes, I begin to speak.  
"So, Connie says I'm supposed to make you into a bad-ass fugitive apprehension agent?"  
"I don't know if I will ever be as bad-ass as you look, but I want to try. I blackmailed my weasel of a cousin into giving me this job, I really need the money from Morelli's capture, but most importantly I don't want to embarass myself by falling on my face, or worse, my ass!" She tells me.  
"Well I definitely won't let you damage that, and I think it will be fun to help you out as we get to know each other again." I say.  
"Maybe, I'm still freaking out. Why do you do this?" She asks.  
"It's what I do best." I brag.  
"I beg to differ there, if I remember correctly, and they are pretty vivid memories, too; there are some things that you do so much better." She winks.  
I can't help but allow my blank face to slide off of my face as I give her a wolf-grin. "So do you know where to start looking for Morelli?"  
"Not a whole lot, what do you know about why he was arrested?" She asks.  
"The guy he shot was a gopher for the boxer Benito Ramirez. I would start there, but the gym he hangs at is on Stark Street and I wouldn't suggest you go there alone. It's a pretty rough neighborhood." I explain.  
"Well you're the expert here, and my teacher so I would want you to tag along the first time. I can handle talking to Morelli's friends and family in the "Burg". What else do you think will help me along my way to BEA super-stardom?" She wonders.  
I chuckle lightly. "I would start with a dependable piece, stun-gun, and pepper spray is always good when you don't have anything else."  
"A piece of what? Cake??" She laughs.  
"No, babe, a firearm, a gun. I'll take you to Sunny's later today and get you out-fitted right. That way you won't embarass me too much." I say with a turned-up smile.  
"OK, enough about your huge ego and work. So what happens now between us? What do you want to do?" She looks timid, afraid to bring up the subject.  
"I would love to pick up where we left off, but I think that would be too much, too soon for you. So however fast or slow you want to go is fine with me. I definately want to start a relationship with you and see where it leads." I tell her easily.  
She seems to relax some after that. "I want to be with you, too. I think we should take things slow also, but I don't know how much I can trust my Hungarian hormones when I'm around you." She blushes.  
"Giving information to the enemy, babe." I grin.  
"You're not the enemy Ric, not now, not ever." She says.  
"So what am I then?" I inquire.  
"Sounds like to me that you just volunteered to be my boyfriend. You know that means meals with my crazy family, especially my Grandma Mazur." She says with a twinkle in her eyes.  
"I think I'm up for the challenge, babe. I have invaded third-world countries, so your grandmother should be no problem at all." I think.  
She actually laughed out loud in my face at that. What in the hell was up with that and what have I just gotten myself into?  
"You have no idea what you just signed up for." She says to me.  
"We'll see. So you ready to go see Sunny and get suited up?"   
"Might as well get it over with, I really hate guns. I don't know if I could ever use one on another human being." She worries.  
"You don't have to like them, babe, just get used to using one, in all aspects. Learn to disassemble, reassemble, clean, load, aim, and fire. I'll be right there with you every step of the way, no need to worry."  
We get up from the table and I throw some money down to cover the cost of our meal and a generous tip for the waitrress. We head out to the parking lot and my black Ford F150 truck. A short drive later, we pull up outside Sunny's Gun Range and Shop. As we walk in the door, Sunny looks over to us and unveils her "sunny" smile; hence her nickname.  
"What brings you to see me today, gorgeous?" Sunny asks me.  
"Stephanie here is a new BEA and needs to get completely outfitted. I'm thinking small 6-round revolver, maybe Smith & Wesson, 38 caliber, and she also needs a stun-gun and defense spray." I tell Sunny.  
"No problem Ranger, I think I have just the gun for her right here."  
She unlocks the glass case and reaches in to pull out exactly what I asked for, a S&W six shot 38 revolver. She passes it over to Steph.  
"See how it feels in your hand honey. Get used to it." Sunny says.  
Steph handles the gun tentatively, turning it over in her hand to inspect it like it's going to explode in her hands.  
"It's not gonna bite you, babe. It's not loaded yet."  
I pay Sunny for an hour of range time and a box of 38 ammo so I can start to teach my babe how to handle her new weapon. After the whole hour, she seemed a little more relaxed, but still a terrible shot. This will take a while, but I will get her used to it. We go back out to the front of the store and I buy Steph a decent stun-gun and purse-size pepper spray. She was reluctant at first to let me pay for everything, but I finally talked her into doing things my way.  
"You're my woman now, let me do thing for you babe. I enjoy treating you to things." I stop her before we get to the truck by touching her arm. "Babe, will you go out to dinner with me tonight?"  
"I would love to, Ric. It will give us a chance to get to know each other again." She smiles up at me.  
We climb back in my truck and I take her back home to her apartment. I can't help but think it is totally lax in security among numerous other things.   
"It's almost 6:00, what do you say I come back to pick you up for dinner in an hour?" I ask her.  
"Make it 8:00 and you have a deal." She looks up at me as we stand in her open doorway.  
"I'll see you in two hours then, babe." I tell her as I turn to leave. I reluctantly make my way down to my truck and head to my apartment.  
An hour and 45 minutes later, after a shower and a change of clothes, I headed back across town to Steph's apartment. I pull into her parking lot at 5 minutes to 8.  
I walk my way toward her door holding a bouquet of pink roses and white lilies that I picked up on the way home earlier. I stand at her door and knock at exactly 8:00. I hear her voice through the locked door.  
"Just a minute, I'll be right there."  
A minute or so later she opens the door to reveal the work she has done over the past two hours. I am very pleased with the results. She is wearing a dark purple dress that stops just short of her knees. Her hair is down around her shoulders tumbling in light waves and she is wearing a pair of silver strappy sandals with enough heel to make her legs look a mile long. She is absolutely stunning!  
"Wow, babe, you look amazing! These are for you." I say as I hand her the flowers.  
"Why thank-you sir and these are beautiful, let me just put these in water right fast and then we can leave."  
She goes to the kitchen to find a vase and do just that. I wait patiently in the living room so I can watch her every move. A short time later she returns.  
"Ready to go now?" I ask her.  
She picks up her bag by the door and tells me, "yes". So I take her hand and lead her out the door. After she locks up tight, well as tight as she can with that almost non-existant lock, I swear a 7-year old could pick that thing!  
So after a quiet romantic dinner at Rossini's, I decide to take her back home, before I lose my control. When did she start that moaning thing while she eats? Dios Mio! I am extremely uncomfortable in my pants right now and I hope a cold shower will help, if not I guess I'll take matters in my own hands. It's a bit too early to pick up the physical side or our relationship just yet.  
I walk her up to her door once again, really not wanting to be apart just yet. I wait patiently for her to unlock her door. As she turns back to face me I take a deep breath and begin to speak.  
"I had a great time getting to know you again tonight. I look forward to more dates like this."  
"Me too, I am so glad I found you again, or you found me. I am really excited to see where this relationship goes. I can hardly wait to go out with you again and get to know you even more." She tells me with what sounds like hope in her voice.  
I can not resist the temptation, so I slowly lean in to take her lips with mine. I try to keep it tender and sweet but as soon as I taste her lips again I am flooded with memories. I wrap her in tightly in my arms and pour all my buried passion into this kiss. We soon need to come up for air. I look down into her cerulean eyes and tell her reluctantly.  
"I better leave before you think I am a total ass."  
"You could be right, I do think it is a little too soon. But one day soon I will say the hell with my conscience and let my hormones rule!" She giggles.  
I kiss her gently one more time before I turn to walk away. "I'll see you later, babe."  
R~S~R~S~R~S~R~S~R~S~R~S~R~S~R~S~R~S~R~S~R~S~R~S~R~S~R~S~R~S~R~S~R~S  
SPOV  
I stand inside my apartment leaning against the door for several minutes after Ric leaves. I never thought that we would be shown the way back to each other. I noticed he kept the bracelet I gave him all those years ago and still uses it as a hair tie. That really speaks to my heart about the type of man he is and what I mean to him.  
I wander back to my bedroom to get undressed and ready for bed. I strip down, jump in the shower to wash the make-up and light dirt of the day off. I towel off and get ready for bed.  
As I lie down and bring the covers up around me, I begin to think about the changes I have recently made in my life. A new job, a couple of new friends at the bond's office, and most importantly a new man. I drift off to sleep with these happy thoughts running through my mind. My last coherent thought is, 'Life is really looking up, I can hardly wait to see what the next few months bring!' ####


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N : Thank-you for your reviews of chapter one of this sequel. I plan on hitting on the major points of the story in OFTM. Of course putting my own twist on things. (Yes that means the infamous "handcuffed naked to the shower rod" incident will get a totally new re-vamp!) But not in this chapter. hehehe ;) Enjoy!

SPOV

I woke to the screaming of the alarm clock in my ear. I roll over cussing under my breath, stealing a glance at the clock as I do; 6:55 a.m. Who in the hell messed with my alarm clock?? I had it set for 9:30 a.m. But more importantly right now, why am I smelling the enticing aroma of coffee?  
I drag myself out of bed and into the bathroom to take care of my exploding bladder. I stumble out of the bathroom and back to my bedroom to get dressed. After I pull on a pair of jeans and a plain white t-shirt, I make my my way to the kitchen. What I see there astounds me.  
Ric is standing in the middle of my kitchen stirring a pan of what smells like eggs.  
"Hey, don't take this the wrong way, but what are you doing here?" I ask sheepishly.  
"Well, good morning to you, too sunshine. Looks like you got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning. Maybe if I were there with you, you would change your tune. I know you would definitely wake feeling a whole lot better, not to mention more relaxed." He wolf-grins at me.  
"No doubt! I'm sorry if I sounded bitchy, I was just not expecting a wake-up call this morning. Thank-you for the coffee by the way." I say as I pour myself a cup of life's elixir.  
"It's OK babe, guess I should have called first. By the way you were out of food so I went out and picked up a few things for you." He adds.  
"Thanks for that. It may take a while for me to pay you back. But I will. I got to get a few captures under my belt and get some money in my bank account. Then I will be able to fill my cupboards again."  
"No need to repay me babe, let me take care of you somehow. I'm not saying I want to make you a kept woman, just take care of you in small ways, like this one. Please let me." He asks. I don't know how he knew the word "please" is my weakness. I can never say no to it.  
"What smells so good? I didn't even know that you could cook."  
"Just your basic scrambled eggs and toast. Nothing fancy."  
"Still smells great." I tell him as he places a plate down in front of me.  
He just grins down at me at he places another plate for himself on the bar and sits down to start eating. I am already almost half done. I am truly enjoying the light meal. He really can cook. And why does he have this pained expression on his face and keep shifting in his seat?  
"Something wrong, Ric?" I ask tentatively.  
"Are you aware that you moan out loud while you eat? It makes dining with you a worse form of torture than some of the Colombian drug lords I have come across. You should teach sadist this torture technique." He tells me with a laugh in his voice.  
I look over at him doing my best fish impression. "Uh......... I ...I..... never realized. Oh, hell I can't help it, I enjoy my food!"  
"That you do, babe." He says as he gets up to do the dishes.  
I get up to take my plate over to him at the sink. "Does it really affect you that badly?"  
He grabs my hand and places it on his crotch. "Do you believe me now?" He asks as he rubs my hand against him.  
"I'm sorry, I'll try to keep it under control, or at least at a lower decibel." I say with my voice full of guilt.  
"It's fine babe, I never said I didn't enjoy it. But one of these days you might find yourself bent over the dining room table." He chuckles.  
I smile as I think to myself. 'The way my hormones are acting, I just may throw you down and have my wicked way with you.'  
Ranger chuckles and shakes his head. "Anytime you want to babe, trust me I won't object or put up a fight."  
"Ugh ..... out loud?" I wonder. He just nods his head with that damn adorable half-grin on his face.  
"So what's first on today's agenda?" He asks.  
"I really haven't planned anything yet. I thought we would play it by ear. What do you think, you're the expert?" I say.  
"We should pay Ramirez a little visit today, but it's too early for that. Those guys don't get up and get started for the day until well after noon." He responds.  
I look down at my watch; 9:02 a.m. "Well, we have a few hours to waste. You think we should go talk to Morelli's family and friends in the 'Burg?"  
"I don't think any of his family will be willing to rat him out." He tells me.  
"That is true. Angela Morelli and the rest of her clan would never give up her precious boy. This may be harder than I thought." I stress.  
"Yep, Morelli is not your average FTA. He is going to be tough to track down. But you are with me, I am the best at what I do. I don't have my ear to the 'Burg grapevine, that's where you come in. That side of town is your specialty, mine is more Stark street."  
"The best way to get what is happening in the 'Burg news, OK gossip, is to talk to people. My grandmother is the eyes and ears of the ladies at the Clip & Curl, and they don't have nothing on Vinnie's office manager, Connie Rossolli. She is part of a "family" if you know what I mean."  
"Yea I know about Connie's connections. We can go and speak to her then make rounds around town scoping things out. Then maybe dinner tonight at your parent's house to get the scoop from your grandmother."  
I can't help but giggle. "That all sounds good to me. But are you really sure you want to chance dinner at my parents. My grandmother is one of a kind."  
"Yes, I'm sure babe. I want to meet your parents and the rest of your family. If we are going to be together, don't you think we should get to know one another's family?"  
"Yes. Of course I do. But you just don't know how my grandmother is. You will learn and then you will be afraid, you will be very afraid!"  
I can see by the look on his face that he is totally clueless. He will learn. "Well let's just get out and about. Time to earn our keep."  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Three and a half hours later I slam the door to his truck as I get in. "I'm tired of people shutting the door in our faces." I grumble.  
"Patience, babe. We're applying pressure. Getting the word out that we are looking for Morelli. He will slip up soon and we'll have our chance."  
"OK. Do you think the guys are out yet at the gym on Stark?"  
"Let's find out." Ranger replies.  
The drive over to Stark street is silent. Ranger seems to go in a zone while driving. I can dig that, who am I kidding, the silence is killing me. What can I say? I'm a talker.  
Ranger finds a place to park on the side of the road, and we get out. We walk up a couple of blocks and stop at a beat-up wooden door with a small dirty window. The small wooden sign beside it is barely readable. "Stark Street Gym" it says.  
I get that funny feeling in the pit of my stomach that I have recently been calling my "spidey sense". I turn around to look behind me, scanning the immediate area. I don't see anything, but still can't shake that feeling of being watched.  
Ranger notices my wariness and asks. "Something wrong?"  
"No, not really, just feel like we're being watched."  
"That is entirely possible on this side of town. I'm with you, don't worry, I got your back. Are you dressed?" He asks me.  
"Dressed? Of course I'm dressed, I got jeans and a t-shirt on. What is your problem?"  
"Babe." He just shakes his head. "I meant do you have your gun?"  
I look away guiltily. "Um .... well .... it's kinda still at home in my cookie jar." I stutter. "I knew you would have yours. Don't you?"  
I could swear I hear him sigh. "I have two guns and a knife on me. And another small arsenal in the truck." Why I am not surprised?  
"Let's just get this over with." I utter.  
Ranger reaches for the door and pulls it open then stands back to allow me to enter first. Gentleman? Nah, I think he's just covering my back. Either that or taking the chance to check out my jean clad ass.  
The smell is over-whelming my senses. Stale sweat and pure testosterone. OMG! Gross!! I stick closer to Ranger trying to see if his delicious scent will over-power this stench. Nope!! No such luck.  
We make our way up the stairwell ahead of us. I am afraid it will collapse under the strain. When we reach the top, I can't help to notice the smell is getting worse. And in front of us, 8 or so buff men have stopped what they were doing and are staring, I think at me.  
"Gentelmen." Ranger's commanding voice booms out. "We are looking for Benito Ramirez. We have something to discuss with him. Anyone know where he is?"  
Those once fearless men start to shuffle and cringe nervously. 'Hmmmmm....... Ranger is nice to have around, quite an influence.' I think.  
Ranger turns his head to look at me and winks, then quickly turns back to the room full of shaking men.  
The largest and burliest of them steps forward. He is at least 6'6", bald head, African American, well muscled, looks like he could have a few screws loose if you look closely in his eyes.  
"I'm Benito Ramirez. What you need to see me for?" He asks, the only man in the room willing to stand up to Ranger.  
Ranger straightens his spine, even more than normal, and looks directly into his eyes to respond. "We need to talk to you privately. Nothing but talk, not looking for you. Just want to ask about one of your former runners, Ziggy. What do you know about his death?"  
"Ziggy?? All I know about him is he got whacked by a rouge cop. You looking for that cop, Morelli, ain't ya?"  
Ranger nods. "That it?"  
"Told ya, all I know about Ziggy. But I would like to know a little more about this fine specimen of womanhood right here beside you." He leers.  
Ranger steps in front of me and growls out. "Mine!" He stares into Ramirez's eyes with a look of feral possession.  
Ramirez steps back as he raises his hands in mock surrender. "OK, OK. All you had to say man. Got it."  
Ranger jerks his his in acknowledgement. "That's all for now."  
Ramirez huffs out a breath and turns to walk away. Ranger then leads me back to the shaky stairwell and out the front door.  
As our feet hit the sidewalk, I have that hinky feeling again. Ranger jerks his head up looking around.  
I look at him confused. "You feel it too, don't you?"  
"Yea." He says as his eyes scan the area carefully. All of a sudden he takes off in a sprint across the street.  
I catch up with him as he turns the corner into the alley way. "Damn!"  
"What? What is it?? Ric talk to me?"  
"I saw Morelli in the alley here watching us from across the street. I don't know how he got away, unless he jumped this fence." He complains.  
"We'll get him. Why would he be hanging out here on Stark?"  
"Don't know exactly why, but I have a few ideas. He has a vested interest in talking to Ramirez too, gathering his own intel, or he could have been watching us."  
I nod my understanding. We turn to head back down the two blocks back to his truck. As we make our way down the block I think to myself. 'This is not good.' What worries me the most is Morelli watching us. I know that right now he is a man on the edge, willing to do anything to remain hidden.  
As I climb in the truck beside Ranger I look down at my watch again. I smile to myself as I see it is nearly 5:00. We buckle up and Ranger makes the drive back to my apartment in silence, of course, damn driving zone!  
We pull into the parking lot of my apartment building. I ask Ranger as we head across the lot to my domain.  
"We only have 45 minutes or so to get ready for this dinner with my parents. You sure you still want to do this?"  
"Why wouldn't I be, babe? It can't be that bad."  
We arrive at me front door. I unlock it and Ranger does a sweep, checking for who knows what, Morelli maybe. Yea right!  
I enter my apartment right behind Ranger. He puts his gun back in the holster on his hip. He wraps his arms around my waist, kisses me briefly then tells me.  
"You go take a fast shower and change clothes. Get ready for this dinner you are so worried about. I'll 'dress down' a little and then we will go have a nice, enjoyable family dinner at your parent's house. Agree?"  
"If you say so Ric. What do you mean by 'dress down' a little? You changing clothes too, or just removing your weapons.?"  
"Babe, I am never completely without weapons. I have to be able to protect my woman. I will remove the gun on my hip and the one on my back. The gun and the knife on my ankles will stay put. Always."  
I grin back up at him as I tease. "Not ALL of the time. When I am alone with Ric, the weapons stay at the door."  
"Agreed. Now get your sexy little ass to that shower." He says as he playfully swats my ass.  
"Be back in a few." I toss back over my shoulder.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
RPOV

I watch my babe dash back to the bathroom and think to myself. What in the world is she so scared of? Her family can not be that bad! Well we'll find out in an hour or so.   
I take the guns off of my body that I agreed to remove for her. If it wasn't for the piece and knife on my ankles I would feel naked.   
I settle myself down on the couch to wait for her to finish getting ready. I pick up the remote off the coffee table, turn the TV on and settle on some local news at 5.  
30 minutes later Steph walks back into the living room. She looks dressed and ready to go. I get up from my post and remote the TV back off. "You look great babe."  
"Thanks Ric. You ready to go?"  
"As ready as I ever will be. Let's get this show on the road."


	3. Chapter 3

RPOV

"OK babe, let's get this show on the road." I tell her as I lead her to the door with my hand at her back.  
I lead her down the hall, to the elevator, out the building, and to my truck waiting in the parking lot. I beep the passenger door unlocked and help her inside. I settle her in and buckle her up then make my way to the driver's side. After we are both secure, I turn the engine over and head out to the street.  
We head the short way across town to Steph's parents' house. As I pull up to the curb outside I hear Steph sigh heavily.  
"What's wrong babe?"  
"I don't know if I can go through with this. My Mom is bound to give me the same old speech. 'You're getting too old, why don't you settle down and give me more grandchildren.' I'm sick of hearing it. That's not what I want. And besides I don't recognize that other car in the driveway."  
"What do you mean? Which car?"  
"That dark blue Pontiac, I don't know who it belongs to. But knowing my mother, it could be anyone. More than likely some guy she wants to set me up with, my last chance she would say."  
"It can't be that bad babe. Can it?"  
"You have no idea Ric." She looks over at the door and sighs again when she sees her mother and grandmother standing behind the screen. "We may as well get the torture over with."  
"Sit tight for a sec, I'll help you out of the truck."  
I climb out of the driver's seat and make my way around to her side. I open the door and help her out. She turns to the door and hangs her head. I put my hand at her back, showing my support, and guide her up the walkway.  
"Mom, Grandma, hi, how are you?" She asks when we reach the screen door.  
"I can't speak for Helen here, but I am so glad to see you baby-granddaughter. And who is this fine specimen of a man you got here?" Her grandmother asks.  
"Mother let them get in the house first before you start." Helen says exasperated.  
They move to the side and let us pass. Steph's grandmother pulls her to her and hugs her tight.  
"It's been too long. I missed you baby." She tells her and she squeezes Steph.  
"I missed you guys too. Grandma, Mom, this is my boyfriend, Ricardo Carlos Manoso. I call him Ric. Ric this is my mother Helen Plum and my grandmother, Edna Mazur."  
"It's nice to meet you ladies." I tell them both.  
"Well that's no way to greet family. Give us a hug, stud." Mrs. Mazur says.  
Steph looks over to me as if to say, 'I wouldn't if I were you.' I can only think to myself, 'What harm could it do. She's just a little old lady.'  
So I open up my arms and reach over to give Ms. Edna her hug. As I wrap my arms around her I could swear I feel her hands begin to drift down. I try to wiggle free, but this little old lady has an iron grip! She finally makes her way down and takes both hands full of my ass! 'She is groping my ass!' I think to myself.  
As I look over to Steph, she is barely able to control her grin. When she sees my obvious look of discomfort, she loses it and doubles over laughing.  
Mrs. Mazur finally lets me go with a huge, smug smile of satisfaction on her face.  
"That's enough Mother!" Helen scolds.  
When Steph finally regains control of her laughing fit, she snickers out.  
"I tried to warn you. Where is Dad?" She asks her mother.  
"He's in the living room watching television with our other guest."  
"Other guest, Oh no, Mother, what have you done?"  
"Just go say hello to your father while I go check on dinner."  
Steph and I make our way to the living room to meet and greet her father. He is lounging back in a comfy looking recliner in front of the TV. Sitting on the end of the sofa near the doorway is a middle-aged, doughy, balding white male.  
"Hi Daddy," Steph says as she leans down to place a kiss on his cheek.  
"Hey Pumpkin," he grunts in response.  
Just then Mrs. Plum comes back from the kitchen.  
"Dinner is ready. Everyone come on before it gets cold and is ruined."  
We all make our way to the dining room table where Helen has already laid out most of the food. I see roasted chicken, salad, green beans, mashed potatoes, a corn & tomato mix, and fresh dinner rolls.  
We all take our seats at the table. Mr. and Mrs. Plum at the heads of the table, Steph and I on one side, and Grandma Mazur and the 'guest' on the other side. Grandma Mazur is sitting directly across from me.  
After a short pre-meal prayer Helen starts the conversation up.  
"I'm sorry I didn't have a chance to introduce you to our dinner guest Stephanie. This is Bernie Kuntz. He works at his father's appliance store. He will be manager one day."  
I can see that both Bernie and Steph are blushing furiously, both for entirely different reasons. Steph hangs her head down and tries to explain to her mother.  
"Mother, please, I am not interested in being set up. I told you before we came in, this is Ric, my boyfriend."  
Helen Plum has the good grace to look a little embarrassed.  
"Mrs. Plum," I start to say. "Steph is very important to me. I intend to do right by her. I will not be letting her go anytime soon. We are together for the long haul. We both would appreciate it if you would stop trying to set Steph up on these blind dates."  
Bernie quickly stand up and looks around nervously. "I just remembered I told my father that I would do inventory tonight. I have to go. I'm sorry. Thank-you for inviting me Mrs. Plum."  
He then makes a hasty retreat to the front door. Helen sits there with her mouth a-gape. She finally has the nerve to say.  
"Stephanie! Why is it you always run off every good man in this town? You will never find a husband that way. Why me?!" She utters as she looks up toward the ceiling and chugs back the half glass of amber colored liquid, which smells suspiciously like bourbon to me.  
"Enough Mother! Let's just enjoy dinner while we still can."  
I gently squeeze Steph's hand under the table and lean in to whisper. "Proud of you babe."  
We then start to try to enjoy the dinner that Helen worked so hard to prepare. We all fill our plates with a little of each dish, except me, I leave the potatoes and rolls untouched.   
In the middle of the meal while we are eating, I feel a foot begin to rub up and down my calf and ankle. 'What the ....... ' I think. 'That cannot be Steph doing that, it's coming from across the way. Oh, shit! Grandma Mazur is playing footsie with me!!'  
I look up to her across the table and she is wearing this large shit-eating grin. I believe I actually sighed.  
Steph looks over to me and smirks. Then I hear her grandmother ask me.  
"So hot stuff, what do you do for a living?"  
"I own and run a security company. We do business and residential security, as well as security for events and clubs and such. We also do skip tracing, bounty hunting. That's where I met Steph. I look for criminals for Vinnie also, high bonds."  
"Wow, so you're showing her the ropes." Edna says.  
"Yes ma'am, I am showing her how to do the job safely. I even got her equipped with a gun, taser, and pepper spray to keep her safe. We are currently looking for Joe Morelli." I tell her.  
I hear Mr. Plum grunt from behind his fork, sounded like 'asshole'.  
"You got a gun baby-granddaughter?" Edna says excitedly.  
"Yes, Grandma, it's in my purse."  
Mrs. Mazur gets up and reaches over to the side table for Steph's purse. She looks through it and digs out Steph's 38.   
"Is this it?" She inquires.  
"Yes, Grandma, please put it down before you hurt someone."  
Too late! Edna is turning the gun over in her hand, examining it. When we all hear the obvious sound of a gun shot. Just as I wonder where the shot went, I see the chicken carcass jump off of the table.  
Good thing I didn't have my gun on my hip. I had already pulled Steph to my side to shield her. Steph jumps up out of my grasp and runs around the table to take the gun from her grandmother.  
"Ha! Shot that thing right in the gumpy!" Edna says excitedly.  
Frank Plum looks up from his plate and utters. "Crazy old bat!"  
We all take a moment to settle down and get back to our meal. After the main meal is done, Helen goes to the kitchen to bring out dessert. She walks back into the dining room and places the cake plate down in the center of the table, once the broken platter and shot-up chicken carcass has been removed.  
It looks to me like pineapple upside-down cake. I hear Steph moan from beside me. I guess it is. I know this is her favorite and she says her mother's is the best. I decide to give it a try and see. It would be rude not to, you know.  
Helen begins to slice off pieces of the cake and serve them up, Mr. Plum first, then Mrs. Mazur, and Steph. She then asks me if I want a piece.  
"A small piece will be fine Mrs. Plum." I tell her.  
She looks over-joyed that I didn't refuse. I made the right decision. I can always work it off in the morning at the gym.  
Listening to Steph moan her way through dessert has me in a state. I reached down several times to adjust my pants. Steph looks over to me and mouths 'sorry'.  
After the last crumbs of cake are gone, Steph helps her mother take the dishes to the kitchen and her father returns to his chair in front of the TV. I realize that I have been left alone with "grabby grandma".  
I quickly back away to the living room never taking my eyes off of the enemy. Edna sighs and walks off to the kitchen.  
A short time later the ladies join us in the living room. Steph speaks up.  
"Thanks for dinner Mom, but I am really tired, so we better leave now."  
"Of course, Mother and I will walk you to the door." Helen offers.  
On our way to the front door Mrs. Mazur is walking behind us. I feel her pinch my ass again. I turn around to confront her just as she is reaching for another pinch. Just in time for her to get an handful of my manhood.  
My eyes widen in alarm and I jerk back, just as we reach the door and go through. I tell the ladies good-night and walk Steph down to the truck.  
As we settle down in our seats in the truck I lean my head back on the head-rest and shudder. Steph looks over at me with amusement as she asks.  
"Something wrong?"  
I lift my head and look her way as I tell her. "I feel so violated."  
She actually starts to laugh out loud. When she finally catches her breath enough to speak she squeaks out.  
"Awwwwwww .... honey, I tried to warn you. My Grandma Mazur has hands like an octopus and fingers like a crab."  
"Yeah, I guess I should have listened to you. Never again will I think that she is a 'helpless old lady'. "  
Steph grins back at me. "OK, Ric, take me home."  
"I'll gladly take you home, my home." I wolf-grin back at her.  
"You know what I meant mister!"  
I chuckle as I start the truck. I pull into her parking lot a few minutes later. I park the truck and help her out. We make our way across the parking lot and into the building.  
She unlocks her apartment door and moves inside. I feel obligated to do a security check. It's for her safety, I swear it. After clearing the whole apartment, I turn to her in the living room.  
"All clear babe. You're safe for the night, as long as you lock your doors and windows. But please let me up-grade your security. This apartment is lax in that regard."  
"I'll be fine Ric. I'm used to it by now. My neighbors are all older folks, not a crazy in the bunch."  
"Please just think about it. It would make me feel better if you had more security, better locks and maybe a camera or two. I'll even set it all up for you, business expense."  
"OK, ok, I'll think about it at least." She relents.  
I smile big at her and take her in my arms. I lean down to plant a kiss on her soft lips. Before I am able to get out of breath from her addictive kiss, I feel my body responding. I pull back reluctantly.  
"I better go babe. I still want to take things slow. I don't want you thinking I'm an asshole for being too forward."  
"If you say so. But just know that I am ready when you are." She smiles up at me seductively. 'Shit! I really don't want to leave.'  
I groan out loud as I release her. I give her one more small peck on the lips as I turn to leave.  
"Good night babe. Rest well."  
She walks me to the door as she replies.  
"You too Ric. Sweet dreams of me."  
I step on the other side of her door and give her one last fleeting kiss.  
"Don't forget to lock up behind me, please."  
"I won't. Now get out of here before I change my mind and drag you back in here." She winks.  
I smile and turn away before I change MY mind. I hear her locks tumble after my back is turned. Satisfied that she is safe for the time being, I walk away.  
As I am driving back to Haywood my mind wanders. 'This is starting to get good. I am so glad I found her again. I never thought that the girl that stole my heart all those years ago would make her way back into my life.' I smile to myself as I pull into the underground garage. 'This has the ability to become one hot case since we are working it together. Morelli has no chance against us!' ####################


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N : Once again characters aren't mine, just playing with them. Here we go with the next one for your reading pleasure. (I hope) :-)

SPOV

I have been awake since 7:30 a.m.; I know unusual for me right?! I just dropped a couple of raisins and some hamster crunchies in Rex's food dish. Now that Rex is fed, I have to find some food for myself, here-in lies the problem. Ric has left mostly natural, good, wholesome foods in my fridge and cupboards.  
And what do I want to eat, doughnuts! Oh well, I pick up my keys and head to Tasty Pastry. I lock up my apartment door and head downstairs.  
I drag myself into my recent POS car and crank it over; after 3 tries. Stupid car! I make my way across town to the bakery.  
My car knocks off as I pull up in the bakery parking lot. Great, just great! I swear under my breath and get out of the car.  
I walk inside and recognize the woman behind the counter. It is an old high-school classmate, Jenny Mancini. I walk up to the counter.  
"Hey Stephanie Plum. I haven't seen you since high school. What you been up to?" Jenny says as I reach her.  
"I've been OK. Just started hunting down bad guys for Vinnie last week. I need some sugary goodness to keep my strength up."  
"Well, what can I get for you?" Jenny replies.  
"Give me a dozen assorted. I'm stopping by the office in a few and Connie would never forgive me if I didn't have some for her." I laugh.  
As Jenny is boxing up my breakfast of champions I feel a presence behind me and a familiar tingle on my neck. I feel his breath on my cheek as he whispers in my ear.  
"That stuff will kill you babe."  
I turn around and give him my best seductress smile and voice.  
"Well I wasn't allowed any Cuban goodness this morning so I had to settle for second best."  
His eyes widen slightly in surprise as his wolf-grin appears.  
"Next time I'll make sure you have your mouth full of Cuban."  
I swear my panties went up in flames! I barely register Jenny's voice in front of me.  
"Steph. Here you are. All ready to go."  
She hands me my box of sugar and glaze, oh and don't forget the chocolate and yummy vanilla custard. I pay her for the lot and make my way to the door with Ric close behind me.  
"I'm going by the office and see if Connie has any more files for me today. Half of this box is hers, you know." I tell Ric.  
He just stares at me as if to say. 'Sure.'   
"OK, I'll follow you and we'll talk about what to do about Morelli when we leave." He says.  
I climb in my POS car putting the box on the seat beside me. I try to crank the engine over, of course it doesn't do anything. Damn piece of shit, foreign made, piece of junk!  
"Problem babe?" Ric asks.  
I sigh heavily as I admit. "Yes, this stupid car is getting on my last nerve."  
He opens the driver's door and pulls me out.  
"Come on babe. We'll take my truck. I'll send someone to come take this to the auto graveyard. There's no hope for it. This soldier is down."  
"Wait! My doughnuts," I cry as I lean through the window to grab my breakfast.  
Ric just sighs and shakes his head as he leads me to the passenger side of his tricked-out truck. I climb in and fasten my seat belt, resting the box of doughnuts on the floor between my feet.  
"I know you're dying for one, so go ahead and eat." Ric tells me.  
I have no choice but to reach down and pull out a Boston Creme. I moan loudly at the first bite of creamy goodness that flows across my tongue.  
I notice Ric shift in his seat. I can't help but giggle at his discomfort. "Sorry." I mumble around the mouth full of cream and fried dough.  
As I finish off my second doughnut we arrive at Vinnie's office. Connie is sitting behind her desk applying a coat of fire engine red nail polish to her thumb, by the looks of it, it is the third or fourth coat. She looks up from her manicure as I speak.  
"Hey Connie, what's up? Any new files for me today?"  
"Just these two. They should be easy enough to pick up. Local stoners and stolen goods fencers." She replies as she blows across her nails.  
I pick up the two files off the corner of her desk. I flip through the first and notice the name on the rap sheet, Douglas Kruper. I flip the other open and see it is Walter Dunphy.  
I went to high school with Dougie Kruper and Walter "Moon-man" Dunphy. They were stoners then and probably are still. I remind myself not to eat anything they baked.  
"Yeah, I know both of these guys. They should be real easy to pick up. I should be able to just sweet talk them to the car with a promise of a blunt, buying some of their merchandise, or sex."  
I glance over at Ric and notice him stiffen. He leans in to my ear and whispers.  
"The HELL you will on the latter!"  
I whisper back to him. "Jealousy looks good on you, cave-man." He growls lightly in return. I hear Connie ask.  
"You're getting pretty close to Ranger, aren't you?"  
"We actually met years ago. We got reacquainted when you set up the meeting for us at the diner. We are dating now." I tell her.  
Connie looks at me, then to Ranger, then back at me. She picks up a file off of her desk and starts to fan herself with it.  
I whisper to Ric. "I think that's our cue to leave."  
"You got it, babe. You want to go pick those two up now? We can talk about what to do next about Morelli on the way."  
"Yepp, let's go get Mooner and Dougie. Connie, we'll be back by later with the receipts for these two. See you later."  
Connie nods her head before we turn to leave the bond's office. We climb in to Ric's truck and buckle up.  
As we make our way across town I start up the conversation.  
"So what do you think we need to do now? I think we should go by Morelli's apartment and have a look-see around."  
"Good idea, babe. That's just what I was thinking." He answers.  
A few minutes later we pull up in front of Dougie's house. We get out of the truck and make our way up the walk to the front door through the high grass in need of mowing.  
As we reach the front door, I lift my hand to knock. I guess no one hears the first try, so I knock again; louder this time as I call out.  
"Hey, Dougie, Mooner, it's me Stephanie Plum. Come on, answer the door. I need to talk to you guys. I am in the market for a new Gucci knock-off purse or some shoes."  
I look over at Ranger and see his blank face as he tells me.  
"You offer the other and I will have to show them you are mine."  
I just wink at him. I hear movement on the other side of the door. Seconds later it is slowly opened and I see the obviously stoned face of Mooner.  
"Dudette! How the hell are ya? Did you say you were interested in some of our groovy merchandise?"  
"Maybe after we get back. I need you and Dougie to come with me to the police station to be re-bonded. You forgot your court dates." I tell him.  
He smacks himself on the head and utters. "Dang, I knew there was something we were supposed to do yesterday."  
"Just come with us. We can get you re-scheduled in no time."  
"Sweet. Hey Dougie!" He yells out over his shoulder.  
Dougie shows up by his side shortly after. I remind them to lock up before we lead them to the truck. Good thing Ranger has a king size cab so we all fit.  
We get them to the cop shop, get them re-bonded, and pick up our body receipts. We make our way back to the bond's office to drop off the receipts and pick up my check.  
After that is done we sit outside in the truck and talk about what to do next about Morelli.  
"So up next Morelli's apartment?" I ask.  
"You got it babe. Let's see if we can get a clue as to where he might be hiding out."  
"Lead the way, Professor Higgins!" I giggle.  
Ranger drives us over to Morelli's last known address, an apartment on the west side of town. We pull into the parking lot. I notice Morelli's forest green Chevy pick-up truck, king cab of course.  
"How are we going to get in?" I ask Ranger.  
"Babe," is all he says as he looks at me incredulously.  
I glare back at him. "Well?"  
"I think this is the perfect opportunity to teach you some B & E skills, babe. What do you think? Want to try?" He asks.  
"Sure, why not? You are supposed to be teaching me ALL of your bounty hunter master skills. Bring it on." I tease.  
We make our way to Morelli's front door. I watch as Ranger pulls a slim tool out of his cargo pants pocket and begins to work his magic on the door knob. Within 10 seconds the door clicks open.  
"Wow, I knew you had magic hands, but I had no idea." I taunt him.  
"So you do remember how my hands felt?" He wonders.  
All I can do is whimper as I recall exactly how his hands felt all over my body. He chuckles lightly.  
"Let's see what we can find, shall we?" He says.  
We enter what looks like the typical bachelor pad, large screen TV, DVD player and discs, rocking stereo system, and cheesy leather furniture. I was half expecting to see a pool table in the corner.  
We begin our search here in the living room. Finding nothing but porn in the DVD and magazine collections, we move on to the small kitchen.  
Here we find only out-dated bills, and expired food; yuck!! We move on to the bedroom.  
I made my way slowly searching through the closet as Ranger carefully examined the dressers. No freaking way I was going to dig through Morelli's underwear drawer, shudder!  
"Find anything?" I ask him.  
"This has got to be the cleanest house I have ever searched, not a damn thing here. I think we've spent enough time here, nothing to see." He answers.  
We make our way back through the living room and to the door.  
"Grab Morelli's phone bill and the spare keys off the rack in the kitchen, babe. If we have to come back again, we'll have the key. No need to break in twice." He grins.  
I grab the phone bill off the kitchen counter and the keys off of the "key" rack by the doorway in between.  
We make our way back out of the apartment and lock the door behind us. As we make our way back to Ranger's truck he starts to speak.  
"I have a way we may lure Morelli to us."  
"What?? What are you thinking? How do we do that?" I ask.  
"What keys you got on that keyring?" He asks.  
"Looks like house, car, and a couple of keys that look like they are for your typical lock. Why?" I wonder.  
"Car key, huh?" He inquires grinning broadly.  
"Yeah, a spare car key, so what?" I am beginning to get an idea too.  
"I say we borrow his truck and when he shows up to re-claim it, we snag him." He smiles.  
"OK, and what if he tries to come get it in the middle of the night and we're, or I am, asleep?" I challenge him.  
"That's why we're going to take out the distributor cap. It won't crank, he gets out to investigate and we got him." He laughs.  
I let an evil grin spread across my face as I tell him.  
"I love it! Let's do this!"  
"You drive Morelli's truck and I'll follow you back to your apartment. Park it in the middle of the lot. Give me a few minutes to make a phone call first." He tells me.  
I unlock Morelli's truck and stand beside it while I watch Ranger make his call. It's short and to the point, as usual.  
"OK, let's roll." He yells towards me.  
We drive out to the road and head back to my place. When we arrive at my parking lot, I park in the center as he asked. I pull the hood release switch before I step out of Morelli's truck and lock it up tight.  
Ranger parks his truck and makes his way over to me. I follow his line of sight as he looks over my shoulder. I see two black SUV's rolling in to my parking lot. I look at Ranger with question in my eyes.  
"I called Hector to place a motion sensor alarm on Morelli's truck so we know if anyone comes by to claim it."  
"So what's with the other SUV?" I ask him.  
"That would be Bobby bringing you the other one. Your POS car died and you need something to drive. Take it please."  
Crap! I forgot about my car dying at the Tasty Pastry this morning. I have no choice but to take the SUV he is offering. I refuse to borrow "Big Blue" again. No way!!  
"OK, I'll take it this time, but if it blows up or is set on fire it's on your head. You asked for it." I tease.  
He just shakes his head at me. I watch Ranger pop the hood of Morelli's truck and remove the distributor cap as Hector does something to the under-carriage. Glad my prints aren't anywhere!  
After everything is done, Hector and Bobby head out in one of the SUV's. Ranger follows me up to my apartment, to secure it I'm sure.  
After all the boogey men are forced away, (I wish that worked on the dust bunnies) he pulls me into his arms and kisses me soundly. As our lips part I groan at the loss. I hear him laugh slightly and tell me.  
"I know how you feel. I wish I could stay here, but I have a ton of paperwork to get done."  
"OK, get out before I drag you to the bedroom." I tease him.  
I hear him growl in response as he tells me to lock the door behind him. I watch his gorgeous ass walk away from me again. Damn it!  
I tumble the locks after he is gone. I stroll to the kitchen to see what I can find for dinner. I settle on some microwave-able mac and cheese. Yum!  
After my tummy is full, I shuffle off to the shower. A short time later I am clean as a whistle and dragging on my jammies. I collapse onto the bed and try to make myself dream of Ric. It is easy to think of him and what I want to do to him, again.  
I let these thoughts bring me down into a restful slumber where my dreams are filled with images of a naked Ric. Yes! ####


	5. Chapter 5

RPOV

Starting the day in the gym, as usual, I pick up the pace on the treadmill I am running on. Burning off steam with the Morelli and Ramirez situations. One is a good cop and even better at laying low and hiding out, the other is a local boxing hero, psychotic yes, but a local hero none the less. I think I may have to make a visit to him later to see if he was hiding anything, with Steph not along for the ride, I can use more obvious means of persuasion rather than the subtle means I was using before.  
My thoughts get away from me. I am in what Steph calls my zone. I did not notice Les had climbed on the treadmill next to me and had started to speak to me.  
"Hey cuz, what's up? You look like you're a million miles away. What's her name?"  
"Not thinking of her Santos, was thinking about Morelli and maybe paying Ramirez a little visit later today." I tell him.  
"Want a tag along then?" He asks.  
"If you insist." I scoff.  
I look down at my treadmill's read-out screen and see that I have already been running for over 7 miles. I slow the machine down to start my cool down period. After 10 minutes of walking, I step off of the machine and turn to Les.  
"Give me 15 to shower and change then meet me in the garage. We'll pay Ramirez a visit and apply some pressure." I inform Les.  
"You got it, cuz." Les nods.  
I make my way to the elevator and fob my way into my apartment on 7. I enter the apartment and head straight for the shower. Stripping out of my clothes I climb under the hot spray.  
I finish my shower and get dressed in the changing room. It has been 13 minutes so I head down to the garage to meet Les.  
When I arrive at the garage Les is already waiting on me leaning on his company SUV. I shake my head at him as I tell him.  
"I don't think so. First of all you ain't driving. We're taking my truck, so climb in. I'm driving."  
"You're no fun, cuz."  
I swear I think I sighed as I ducked into my truck. "Shut up and buckle up!" I glare at him.  
I drive over to Stark street, planning out what I am going to say to Ramirez as I go. I've heard around that he is not so nice with women. He has quite a reputation. And he had the nerve to speak to Steph. That's another reason she is not going with me today. I can not stomach him leering at her. I try to pull myself back in control as I pull up to the Stark street gym.  
Les and I get out of the truck and amble into the gym. It is just as filthy as before. We head up the rickety stairs and enter the work-out area. I glance around and see the object of my ire. I nod over towards him so Les can see who I am here to see.  
Les nod his understanding and steps up even with me to present a united front. I call out to Ramirez.  
"Yo, Benito, a word."  
"What you back for? I told you all I know last time." He replies.  
"I thought maybe you might have remembered something." I tell him.  
"No, but I do remember that hot piece of ass you were with last time. The Champ definitely liked her. Where is she? I might be persuaded to remember more if she was here." He utters.  
I am immediately seeing red. I straighten up my back and look into his demented eyes as I reply.  
"Leave her out of this. This is between us. I know you know something. What is it?"  
"Told you, don't know nothing. Bring that hot ass little girl of yours back and I might talk, oh yeah, I will talk. But only to her. The Champ has a way with the ladies, you know." He grins.  
I reach out with my right arm and slam him against the wall. Les stands between us to keep his boys back. I apply pressure with my forearm to his throat as I growl out.  
"I told you before, she's mine! Keep your ogling eyes and nasty comments to yourself. Or I will fuck you up!!"  
I keep applying pressure to his throat as his eyes begin to bulge out and his breathing becomes labored. I hear Les whisper in my ear.  
"That's enough, too many witnesses."  
I finally release my hold on him and turn to leave, but not before I give him one last warning.  
"I will be back, and I won't be alone. We will not be so gentle next time. I will see you again, Benito."  
I huff my way down the stairs and back out the door with Les on my heels. We get back into the truck and head back to Haywood. I pull into the underground garage coming to a screeching halt.  
"Damn man! You got precious cargo here, me! Want to tell me why you're trying to kill us both?" Les wonders.  
"Not now." I say as I climb out of the truck.  
"Yeah, well do us all a favor and go to the gym and work off some of that aggression." Les pouts as he walks away.  
I groan as I realize he's right. I make my way up to the gym. I spend the next hour pummeling the hanging bag there, wishing it was a certain Champ getting the brunt of my punishment.

SPOV

I have been awake for over two hours now. It is after 11:30 a.m. I have been thinking about Ric's plan to lure Morelli here. It has to work. The most brilliant part of the plan is where we hid the distributor cap. I buried it behind the azalea bushes on the back of the parking lot, about 6 inches deep. Then I covered it with that mulch stuff they have around the bushes. Morelli will never find it.  
Now what do I eat for breakfast, not much here. I know, I know, Ric got me some food, but I don't want any of that. I want something greasy and fattening. I want Cluck-in-a-Bucket chicken with all the fixings. So I head down to my loaner car and hit the road.  
I get myself a two piece dinner with coleslaw, mashed potatoes and gravy, and a biscuit with a chocolate shake for dessert. Meal of kings! I sit down at a table inside to enjoy my lunch.  
When I get done it's after 1:00, so I decide to return to Stark street to see if I can dig up any more information. I know it's stupid to go alone so I call for reinforcements. I hear him pick up the phone and answer with his usual greeting.  
"Yo."  
"Yo, yourself, I was thinking about doing a little snooping on Stark. Want to ride with?" I ask Ric.  
"You know I'm not letting you go anywhere near that area without me. Head home and I'll pick you up in 10." He says before he hangs up without saying Good-bye. What in the hell harm would it do him to actually say Good-bye? Good grief!  
I point my loaner SUV towards St. James street and back to my humble abode. I pull into the parking lot and smile as I see that Morelli's truck is still sitting in the middle and hasn't been touched.  
I look over to my right as I hear another vehicle pull in. It is Ric's truck. I climb out of my car and head over to his.  
"Let's get this show on the road." I tell him as I get in and buckle up.  
"We can question the residents of Stark. Nothing new at the gym. Les and I went there this morning and talked to Ramirez. Maybe someone else saw something or has heard something." He says.  
"I'm down for whatever you want to do Ric. I'm still learning remember and you are my Higgins teacher." I laugh.  
"Well, Eliza, let's see what the residents of Stark have to tell us." He grins back at me.  
We spend the next four hours hanging out on Stark and asking around about Morelli and Ramirez. Two of the Stark street "ladies", Lula and Jackie, seemed to be the most helpful.  
Lula told me that she has seen Morelli around a week or so ago, but not lately. She said she saw him hanging around the gym trying to talk to Ramirez and that Ramirez was not a nice guy. She heard that he liked to beat and hurt women. I cringe at the thought.  
I shudder even more when I looked up at the gym when we were talking to them and see Ramirez's face in the window watching us. I also notice that Ric saw him, too.  
"I need to go back to my place and get ready for dinner at my parent's house. My Mom is expecting me." I tell Ric after we leave and are on the way back.  
"You want some back-up?" He asks. I can hear the tremor in his voice. I laugh and tell him.  
"You sure you want to subject yourself to my grandmother again. She can't stop talking about you or your package." I giggle.  
"You know I'll do anything for you, babe. Even get groped by your granny. We are together. We have to be there for each other." He says tenderly.  
"Awwwwwww, so sweet honey, I'll go it alone this time. I'll let your perfect package rest till then. I'm sure my grandmother will be highly disappointed though." I smile.  
I see Ric expel a breath he was holding. "OK, if you say so." He answers.  
He drops me off at my apartment and I get changed for dinner. I crawl into the shower first. I let the hot water rinse my cares away then I get out and get dressed. It is nearly 6 p.m. I only have 10 minutes to make it to my parents house.  
I arrive with 3 minutes to spare. My mother and grandmother are both waiting for me at the door as I pull up. After I get out of the vehicle I hear my grandmother ask.  
"Who's car is that? What happened to your car?"  
"My car died yesterday morning at the bakery. I borrowed this one from Ric." I tell them.  
I enter the house and greet my Dad in the living room. He grunts his response as Mom tells us dinner is ready.  
I sit through dinner with little to no ribbing from my Mom, amazing. My grandmother does ask me where that fine bounty hunter with the great package is though. I tell her he had to work and will join us next time. She seemed disappointed, I knew she would be.  
I stuff myself with meatloaf and all the trimmings and 3 large pieces of chocolate cake for dessert. I moan after dessert and discretely unsnap my jeans as I tell my family.  
"That was great Mom. I better get home and get some rest. I have a full day of work tomorrow."  
My dad grunts his good-bye and my mom and grandmother both give me hugs on the way out the door. I crawl into my SUV and barely keep awake on the way back to my apartment. I pull into the lot and make my way upstairs. I notice as I pass by that Morelli's truck is still sitting there. I grin to myself.  
Then I start to wonder why it's taking him so long to come and get it. I make my way into my apartment and grab a bottle of water out of the fridge after I drop some Cheerios and a baby carrot into Rex's food dish.  
I walk over to the window in the living room and look down into the parking lot. Nothing. Oh, well.  
I decide to watch "Ghostbusters" for the millionth time. Hey! So what! I love that movie. It's a classic. I drop the DVD into the player and grab the remote as I crash onto the couch. I hit the "play" button and settle back.  
I am startled awake by a loud beeping coming up from the parking lot. I rush over to the window and look down. I am disappointed to see that it is not Morelli, but his cousin Mooch. Mooch kicks the tire of the truck, slams the hood back down, and screeches tires out of the parking lot in his Trans-am.  
I reach into my purse and turn the alarm off. I stuff my feet in my shoes and go downstairs to reset the alarm. When I get down there, I realize that I don't know what in the hell I am doing. I go back upstairs and call Ric. I get his voice-mail. Humphhhh!!  
I look over to the clock on the DVD player and see that it is after 1 a.m. That must be why he is not answering, duh! I may as well go take a shower and try to get some sleep.  
I drop my clothes into the hamper and step under the warm spray. I wash my body and clean my hair. I rinse the soap out of my hair and put in my conditioner. After 3 minutes I rinse it out as well. I have just reached down and turned the water off when the shower curtain is pulled open and ripped down.  
I am shocked to see a livid Morelli staring back at me.  
"Where is my fucking distributor cap? What did you do with it?"  
"I don't know what you're talking about." I stutter.  
"I know you did this! Now where did you hide it?!" Joe screams.  
"I told you I don't know what you're talking about." I tense up.  
He reaches behind his back and pulls out a pair of cuffs. Before I can utter a word, he has my right arm in one of the bracelets and the other one clamped to the shower curtain rod.  
"I know it's here somewhere, Cupcake! Stay here while I have a look around." He yells.  
He starts by dumping all of my clothes out of my hamper and looking through them. He then lifts the lid off of my toilet tank and checks there.  
"I told you I don't have it!" I scream at him. "Let me out of these cuffs Morelli!"  
"NO!! Not until I finish. Just hang around for a while, I don't want you to get in the way while I search." He tells me before he stalks out of the bathroom.  
I hear him toss everything in my bedroom as he continues his search. I wiggle and pull my arm trying to get out of the cuffs. I jerk down on the shower rod thinking maybe I can pull it off the wall. It does not budge, stupid piece of shit 70's bathroom, made to last!  
I hear him tear apart the rest of my apartment, living room, dining area, and kitchen in that order. After about 30 minutes he saunters back into the bathroom asking again.  
"Where is it? It's not in this apartment, but I know you have it."  
"Fuck off, Morelli!" I screech back. I am so pissed off now I can hardly see.  
"Fine! Be that way. I'll just leave you here so you can think about things. See you around, Cupcake." He tells me as he walks out the door.  
"Morelli!! Get back here and let me out of these cuffs!! You're scum, Morelli, scum!" I yell at his back.  
I hear my front door close and lock. I feel the steam coming off of my ears as I think about what I'm going to do to him when I see him again. He is going down!  
I look at the sink and notice that he has left my cordless phone lying there. I stretch my arm and body as far as I can and pick it up. I press the "talk" button relieved to hear a dial tone.  
Now who do I call? There's only one person that I can tolerate seeing me in this situation. I just hope he hasn't gone to bed yet. I hope I don't get his voice-mail again. I dial the number, trembling from the cold and partly from my anger.  
It rings three times before I hear his voice in my ear finally.  
"Yo." I hear him say in a voice half filled with sleep.  
"Ric, I need you. That fucking asshole Morelli handcuffed me to my shower rod!" I tell him.  
"What are you talking about, babe?" He responds.  
"Joe fucking Morelli happened. He handcuffed me to my shower rod. He came by looking for his damn distributor cap. He tore my apartment apart looking. Left me handcuffed to the shower rod, naked!" I scream.  
"On my way, babe. Give me 10." I hear him chuckle before he hangs up.  
So I just hang her until I hear the front door of my apartment click open. It was locked! What the hell?!

RPOV

I am lying in my bed about to doze off when the ringing of my cell phone rouses me. It is my Babe and she sounds hysterical. She is telling me that Morelli just handcuffed her to her shower rod. I grin as she tells me she is naked. I tell her to give me 10 and I will be there to rescue her.  
I roll out of bed, get dressed, pull on my boots and head to the door. I make my way down to the garage and climb into my truck. It only takes 7 minutes to get to her apartment. And even less to pick the lock to get in. I wish she would get better security.  
I walk through the apartment to the bathroom in the rear. I walk through the door to the bathroom and am floored by what I see.  
My Babe is indeed handcuffed to her shower rod. She is naked, her nipples are hard as pebbles, and she is livid!  
"Babe."  
"Please, Ric, just get me down from here. My arm is numb." She whines.  
"I will if you let me rub the feeling back in for you. For your entire body." I grin.  
"Whatever, just get me down. Please?" She groans.  
I reach into my pocket and pull out my universal handcuff key. I relieve her from her predicament easily.  
"Do I get my reward now?" I ask her with my wolf-grin.  
She just sighs up at me as she rubs her wrist and forearm.   
"Here, let me." I volunteer.  
I take her arm gently in mine and begin to rub the circulation back into it. I rub her wrist and lower arm, working my way up to her upper arm. I pull her close to me.  
"Does that feel better?" I ask her.  
"Hmmmmmmm.... " She answers.  
I rub my hands up and down her back. I can not help myself as my hands work their way down to her ass. I squeeze and cup her tenderly.  
I lean down and take her lips. She moans into my mouth. My cock responds. I pick her up and she wraps her legs around my waist.  
I turn around and walk out of the bathroom towards her bedroom. The whole time I am still exploring her mouth with my own.  
I sit down on the edge of the bed with her in my lap. I pull myself away from her mouth so I can speak.  
"Do you want this, babe?"   
She looks up at me with dark lust-filled eyes as she tells me.  
"I have been wanting this for days now, Ric. Please, take me." She purrs.  
That is all the persuasion I need. I growl as I attack her lips again with a rough, passionate kiss. I feel her hands stroking up and down my chest. When she reaches the bottom of my shirt, she starts trying to pull it out of my pants.  
I break the kiss long enough to pull my shirt up and off of my body for her. She begins to grind her hips against my erection. I stand up and lie her down on the bed gently.  
I then start to unbutton and remove my cargo pants. As I bring them completely off my body and bear my nakedness to her, I see her eyes darken more. I swear I think I see her drool.  
She scurries up to her knees and wraps her hand around my dick. I growl low in my chest as she begins to stroke up and down lightly. When she flicks her tongue across the slit, I close my eyes, throw my head back, and moan loudly.  
She then takes me into her mouth and begins the real torture. After a couple of minutes of this divine torture, I grab her head by a handful of hair and pull her back.  
"Enough of that for now, babe. Lay back, it's my turn." I tell her.  
She follows my instructions willingly. I poise my body over hers and kiss her passionately again. Meanwhile I begin to rub my hands up and down her gorgeous body.  
The sounds she is making from my exploration are driving me crazy. All I want to do is drive into her and make her mine completely, in the most primal way. But she is worth more than that to me. She deserves better.  
I force myself to regain control so I can please her. I break away from her lips and start kissing my way down her body. I place open mouth kisses across her chest, stopping only to take a nipple in my mouth and suckle lightly. Her responding moans are encouragement enough for me to continue my way downward.  
I make my way past her stomach and abs pausing briefly to flick my tongue around her belly button. She is jerking beneath me.  
As I reach my destination I breath in the heady scent of her arousal. I look up to her to see that her head is thrown back and her eyes are closed. Her eyes jerk open when I run my tongue from the bottom of her slit to the top and flick it across her clit.  
I grin up at her before I return to my feast on her juices. It doesn't take long before she is screaming my name with her first orgasm. I slowly lick to bring her back down.  
I reach over the side of the bed to my pants pocket to retrieve a condom. I roll it on as I make my way back over her body. I lean down to kiss her passionately again. When I pick my head up again, I speak.  
"Last chance to back out, after I get inside you I will not be able to stop, babe." I tell her.  
"Please Ric, I need you." She responds.  
I lean down and kiss her again as I slowly ease my way inside her. Dios, she is just as tight and wet as I remember. When I am fully sheathed inside her, I pause to regain control and allow her to relax enough to accomodate my size.  
With gently urging from her hips I begin to slowly move my hips. Her body's tight fit is pure Heaven. Her moans and gasps of pleasure soon take my infamous control away. I hear her voice cut through my thoughts.  
"I won't break Ric, now fuck me hard!" She cries.  
Who am I to deny her? I lift her right leg over my shoulder to change the angle of my penetration and start to pound into her. My hips are working like pistons in and out of her body.  
Soon I hear her scream my name again as her body convulses around me. Another two strokes and I am spilling my seed inside of her as I growl out with my own release.  
After we have a chance to come down from our high, I collapse on top of her being careful not to crush her with my weight. I roll over onto my side bringing her with me.  
I open my eyes when I hear her voice.  
"Now I know why I called you to free me. That was amazing."  
"And just think, you can have that anytime you want. I'm all yours, babe." I reply.  
"Definite perks of our relationship. Why did we wait so long to do that again?" She giggles.  
"Temporary insanity, I guess. But I guarantee you I will be taking you time and time again, as long as you will let me." I tell her honestly.  
"Sounds good to me." She purrs as she rolls over and straddles my waist.  
"What are you doing, babe?"  
"Can't you tell?" She responds as she wiggles her ass against me.  
"Playing with fire babe ................ " #################

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N : Well that's it. Please review and let me know if it lived up to your expectations. Let me know either way if you liked it or not. So I'll know how to improve how I write. I do this all for you. Rain (Jackie)


	6. Chapter 6

SPOV

I was awakened by the insistent beeping of my alarm clock. I grumble and slam my hand down to stop the noise. I roll over and look at the clock, it's 8:30 a.m. I do not want to get up, but I have to. I have felons to haul back into the system.  
I drag myself out of bed and toward the bathroom. I do my morning routine before I climb in the shower. The hot water and floral smell of my body wash wakes me up. I am about to turn off the water when I feel a presence in the room.  
The tingle on the back of my neck alerts me to who it is. Only one person makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up like that. And I smell coffee.  
"I hope that's coffee I smell Ric." I say out loud.  
"Yepp, it's in the kitchen along with breakfast babe. You need any help in there?" He asks playfully.  
"No, I'm done now. Just give me a few minutes to get dressed. I'll be right out." I tell him.  
I hear him walk away and close the bathroom door. I turn the water off and step out of the shower stall. I dry myself and blow my hair dry. I wrap a towel around my body and head to my bedroom to get dressed.  
After I pull on a pair of jeans and a tight blue T-shirt, I make my way to the kitchen. I follow my nose and the smell of coffee, and is that bacon I smell too??  
"Morning Ric, what's for breakfast? It smells wonderful." I say.  
"Morning babe, I brought you a greasy breakfast sandwich from McDonald's, also known as "death on a bun". I got myself oatmeal, of course." He laughs.  
"Thank-you so much." I tell him as I lean up and give him a kiss good morning and as a thank-you. "You are too sweet to me. The coffee makes you my Cuban God."  
Ric just chuckles as he shakes his head at me. He then passes me my morning wake up juice.  
I take it from him and sigh in bliss at the first wonderful swallow. I sit down at my kitchen bar and sit my coffee down as I reach for my sandwich.  
I unwrap the greasy goodness. I was right, it's a bacon, egg, and cheese McMuffin. I take a bite and moan loudly at the flavor explosion. I look up at Ric and he looks pained.  
"What's wrong, Ric?" I ask as I swallow the first bite.  
"Nothing, just enjoying listening to you enjoy your food. I don't think I will ever get used to hearing it. Not that it's a bad thing, just murder on my groin." He smiles as he takes a spoon full of his oatmeal.  
I blush a little and continue to eat my breakfast. We continue to eat our breakfast in silence.  
After we are finished I get up and throw the trash away. I curl my arms around Ric's waist and ask him.  
"So, what do you have planned for today?"  
"All I have scheduled today is a quick meeting with the guys. Slow day today." He tells me.  
"Well I'm going by Vinnie's and see if Connie has any files for me today. I have another skip to go after, though, Lonnie Dodd. He is wanted for grand theft auto. Should be easy enough to haul in. Want to give me a hand later today, since you're not busy?" I inquire.  
"OK, I'll stop by Vinnie's when I get done with my meeting and we'll go after Mr. Dodd together."  
"Sure thing, thanks, I'll see you a little later then." I tell him as I walk him to the door.  
He then proceeds to kiss me senseless. I groan as he pulls away.  
"You better leave, we have work to do. And another felon to go after this afternoon, so get going before I tie you down." I wink.  
I see his eyes darken as he places on more light kiss on my lips and turns to leave. I hear him say as he walks out the door.  
"Later babe, much later, we'll pick up where we left off. I'll make sure I have my handcuffs."  
I close the door behind him as I talk myself out of running after him. I go to the bedroom and tie on my sneakers. I pick up my purse on my way out the door. I am crossing the parking lot toward my borrowed SUV minutes later.  
I crank the engine over and head to the bonds office. I pull up a block away, parking sucks on this street. I walk in the door and am immediately attacked with questions.  
"Hey Steph, what no doughnuts today?" Connie asks me.  
"Nah, I already ate so I didn't go by the bakery today. Any files for me today?"  
"No, nothing new, just the ones you have, Dodd, and Morelli," she says."  
"OK, I'll be going after Dodd later. And Morelli is an ass. I hope to bring him in soon." I tell her.  
"You've been at it almost a week now! What's taking you so damn long?!" I hear Vinnie screech from his office doorway.  
"Shut up Vinnie! I'm doing my best. And it's a pleasure as always talking to you ........ NOT!!!" I yell back at him.  
"Just get your ass back to work. I don't pay either of you to sit around the office and gossip!" He growls.  
"Just crawl back into your hole of an office and talk to your johnson or go meet up with that duck or horse or whatever it is you put your wanger in now-a-days!" I throw back at him.  
Connie is gasping for air by now laughing so hard. Vinnie just grunts and slams his office door closed again.  
"I can't believe I'm related to that weasel." I grumble to Connie.  
"Well you sure told him. I haven't laughed that hard in weeks. Thanks." She tells me.  
We are both laughing again when the bell above the front door jingles. I feel that familiar tingle again. I turn around just in time to see Ric walk in.  
He walks up to me and gives me a bone-melting kiss, right in front of Connie. I am shocked.  
Connie picks up a file folder and starts to fan herself with it. Then she speaks.   
"Hey Ranger, what's up?"  
"Same shit, different day, Connie, any files for Rangeman?" He asks her.  
Connie digs around in the pile of files on her desk and hands Ranger three. "Just these three for today."  
Ric grins at her. "Thanks, you ready to go after Dodd, babe?"  
"Yeah, might as well get it over with." I answer.  
We tell Connie good-bye and head out the door to Ranger's truck. He tells me we can pick mine up later, or he can send on of the guys to take it home for me. I tell him to get one of the guys to deliver it to my apartment for me.  
We pull up across the street from Lonnie's house. After Ranger turns off the engine he turns to me and asks.  
"Are you dressed babe? Your gun I mean."  
"Yes dear, it's in my purse." I tell him with a smirk.  
"Smartass." He teases as we get out of the truck and make our way over to Lonnie's house.  
We walk up to the front door and take our places. I stand right in front of the door so I can knock. Ranger takes his spot a little off to my right, as not to scare Dodd, like that's gonna help.  
I knock loudly on the door as I yell out.  
"Lonnie Dodd, bond enforcement, open up!"  
I hear from inside someone walking toward the door. Within seconds it is jerked open by none other than Lonnie Dodd. He is wearing baggy jeans and a wife beater T-shirt that used to be white but is now a sickly yellow.  
"What do you want? It's too early for visitors, especially chicks. Come back later tonight and I'll be happy to assist you, or let you assist me, with my hard-on that is." He slurs.  
'Wrong answer buddy.' I think to myself. This guy is starting to tick me off. "Come on Lonnie, just get you shoes and let's go get your court date re-scheduled."  
I look down to grab my cuffs out of my purse, but Lonnie grabs it first. He jerks my purse off of my arm and throws it in the house behind him. Ranger has had enough. He steps out from beside me into the house in front of me and right in Lonnie's face.  
"Put your hands behind your back and turn around Dodd." Ranger tells him with a look of murder on his face. I am scared shitless and am slow to react when Dodd bolts for the back door.  
Ranger is too fast for him and tackles him before he gets even a foot away. Lonnie lands with a thump right beside my purse. As Ranger is reaching for his cuffs, Dodd reaches into my purse and pulls out my gun. This is not noticed by Ranger, but is by me. I yell out.  
"Ranger, look out! He's got my gun!"  
But it's too late. Lonnie has time to get a shot off. I watch in horror as Ranger's leg jerks from the impact of the bullet hitting him. I dive down and grab my gun from Lonnie, bringing the handle down on his face as I do. I hear the satisfying crunch of his nose breaking.  
Lonnie starts screaming in pain and cursing me for hitting him.  
"Shut up asswipe, you deserved it!" I yell back.  
I turn around to check on Ranger. "Are you OK?"  
"Just a flesh wound babe, nothing to worry about." He says.  
Ranger pulls his phone off of his hip and dials. I can only hear his side of the conversation so I don't know who he has called.  
"Send Brown and a couple of guys to take this skip in, asshole of a car thief got a shot off and hit my thigh. No it's OK, just send Brown to patch me up, and Santos and Hal to take this prick to the station for Steph. Fine." He says as he hangs up. I ask him.  
"Who was that? And who are the guys coming here?"  
"That was Tank, my second in command. He's sending our company medic Bobby Brown to look at my leg, he can handle bandaging it up. And Tank is sending Lester Santos and Hal Brooks to take that asswipe to the station for you." He explains.  
"Oh, OK, are you sure you're alright?" I wonder.  
"I'm fine babe, no worries." He tells me again as I see two SUVs pull up.  
I watch three hot guys climb out of the vehicles. The first one is light-skinned African American with braids hanging almost to his neck. The second is obviously the same Cuban decent as Ranger with short spiky blonde hair and gorgeous green eyes. The last is white and built like a stegosaurus. This guy is huge!  
The first walks over to Ranger and immediately starts probing around his leg wound. I just now realize he is carrying a medical kit. Ranger starts the introductions.  
"Babe, these are some of my men. The one torturing me is Bobby Brown, our company medic." Bobby looks up from his work and smiles and nods at me.  
"The big guy to your left is Hal Brooks and the other is Lester Santos."  
Both Hal and Lester smile at me, but Hal blushes when Lester wiggles his eyebrows at me.  
"Nice to meet you guys." I say with a little finger wave. Hal nods and blushes even more while Lester says.  
"Pleasure is all ours Beautiful, made my day." He grins.  
I hear Ranger growl low in his chest. I don't know if it's because of Lester's open flirting with me or pain from what Bobby is doing. I have my answer when Ranger speaks.  
"Knock it off cuz, mine."  
"Damn!" I hear Lester grumble. Hal is looking confused.  
Bobby looks up from his work on Ranger's leg and announces that he is finished. Damn that was fast.  
"Thanks man." Ranger tells him as he shakes his hand.  
"No problem, bro. It's what I do best." He grins.  
"OK you two, take the trash inside and take him to the cop shop." Ranger tells Les and Hal.  
They instantly hop to and go inside. Bobby sees his work is done so he turns to leave.  
Ranger now has a small bandage on his lower thigh. I guess it was just a scratch. He isn't even limping a little.   
"No babe, it was just a burn mostly, the bullet barely hit my skin. I have had much worse." Ranger tells me.  
"Good, I was worried for a minute there. Now what do we do?"  
"It's up to you babe. I told you I'm free for the rest of the day."  
I smile deviously as the thought comes to me. I know what I want to do.  
"How about we hit the mall. There are some things I need to pick up." I say.  
I could swear I saw a look of pain pass by his face, but it is quickly hidden away. His blank face has dropped down. He just nods and tells me.  
"Whatever you want to do. Let's go then, the guys can handle things here." He replies as we see Hal and Les stuff Lonnie Dodd into the back of their SUV.  
We climb into Ranger's truck and he points it toward the highway. 15 minutes later we are pulling into the mall parking lot. Ranger finds a space up front, his good parking karma strikes again.  
"Where do you need to go babe?" He asks.  
"First I need to go to the pet store and get Rex some food and bedding, then I need to replace some lingerie you destroyed, so Victoria's Secret is next." I wink as I tell him my plan.  
"As long as you model anything you buy at "the secret". Let's get going."  
I smile back at him as we head inside, thinking of how I can torture him with my purchases and looking around. We head to the pet store first so I can get Rex set up for another 3 months.  
Ranger is carrying the bag from the pet store as we make our way toward Victoria's Secret. We walk in and my eyes get a devilish gleam. I head to the thongs. I pick up a tiny black lacy number and hold it up for his inspection.  
"What do you think of this one?" I ask playfully.  
"Perfect, can't wait to see it on you, then rip it off." He growls out.  
"Hey! I'm not replacing these undies for you to just destroy them again!"  
"I'll buy you a whole store full to replace them if you want." He offers.  
I just sigh and head over to the bra and panties sets. I choose 4 sets in black, red, sapphire blue, and white. Time to up the ante a bit. I stroll over to the negligees and begin to look through them.  
Ranger walks up behind me and points to a small purple number that is mostly lace and very minuscule. It has ribbon bows that tie at the shoulders and what looks like snaps at the crotch.  
"You want me to try this one on?" I ask.  
Ranger presses his hips into my backside and I feel his answer before he groans out a single word.  
"Please."  
I giggle and head for the dressing rooms, taking my choices with me. I enter the first one from the left, with Ranger right behind me.  
"Hey, you need to stay outside. I can change by myself."  
"No way babe, you promised to model for me." He wolf-grins at me.  
I just sigh and strip out of my T-shirt and shed my jeans. I push Ranger down onto the bench inside, telling him to stay put and no touching.  
I strip out of my underwear and slide on the purple lace nightie he picked out. As soon as I get it tied on completely I turn around and ask Ranger what he thinks.  
His answers me by bolting up out of his chair and grabbing me around my waist. He growls and kisses me deeply as he grinds his groin into my stomach. I kiss him back with all my pent up passion. As we break for air I tease him.  
"Glad you like it Ric. So this one is a definite purchase?"  
"I may have to buy it. All I want to do is rip it off you right now." He answers.  
He leans back down and starts to kiss me again. I wrap my arms around his neck and hang on. He reaches down and pulls my legs up to wrap around his waist. His hands wander around to grab my ass.  
He walks a couple of steps and traps me against the wall, still not breaking the kiss. When he finally does he moves his kisses down to my neck. I am barely containing my moans as he continues to kiss and suckle my neck at my pulse point.  
I feel his hands reach down between us and unsnap the crotch of my negligee. The next thing I know he is pushing his erection into me. Then he is pounding me into the wall. He moves his mouth back up my neck and kissses me again to muffle my moans.  
In no time we are both shuddering our release. He lays his head on my shoulder as we catch our breath. He slowly lowers me back down to my feet and says.  
"Yes, that one is definitely a keeper."  
"Yes sir. Now let's get out of here. I hope no one heard us or knows what we were doing in here." I blush.  
"Who cares what the know or don't know or what they think. We can't help our attraction to each other." He answers.  
"You're right." I tell him as I get re-dressed and he tucks himself back into his pants.  
When I am fully dressed again I exit the changing room and head to the cashier to pay for my purchases. When we get to the register, Ranger pulls out his wallet and his black AmEx card. I look over to him with question in my eyes.  
"Let me treat you this time babe. I want to." He pleads.  
I sigh and let him pay for my items. He owes me some more anyway.  
As the cashier is ringing up my purchases I notice she is eyeing Ranger. I give her a 'Burg death glare as I tell her. "Mine, eyes to yourself missy!"  
I hear Ranger chuckle lightly. He pays for my undies and we pick up the bags and head out. We drop the bags behind the seat of the truck and pull out to head home.  
A few minutes later we pull up to my apartment building. Ranger shuts the truck off and we get my bags and head up to my apartment. I unlock the door and we drop the bags in my bedroom after Ranger does the standard security check, of course.  
I walk him back to the door and kiss him good-bye. He has an early meeting tomorrow and I need to try to find something out about the only skip I have at the moment, Morelli.  
I watch out the living room window as he crosses the parking lot, gets into his truck, and leaves.  
I shuffle off to the shower and then snuggle into bed. I am so tired. I fall asleep as I think. 'My life is so good right now. I have a great boyfriend, a steady job, and wonderful family and friends. It doesn't get much better than this.' #################


	7. Chapter 7

RPOV

I am sitting at my desk at the office elbow-deep in paper-work, wishing the day was over so I can spend some quality time with my Babe. We have planned a regular date night, diner at Rossini's then a movie at the complex in the mall.  
I am brought out of my day-dreams by Tank's booming voice.  
"Yo, Ric, you were miles away. What are you still doing here anyway?"  
"Trying to get some of this paperwork caught up. We really should hire someone to do this shit for us."  
"No argument from me on that man. I thought you had a date tonight. It's almost 18:00."  
"Damn! I need to get ready. We have reservations at Rossini's for 19:00. Take care of things while I'm gone. I'm off-line till 06:00 in the morning."  
"Huahhhhhh!"  
I ride the elevator up to 7 and enter my apartment. I head to the bathroom to take the quickest shower in history. After I am squeaky clean, I exit the shower and dry off.  
I go to the dressing room next and choose my clothes for the night. I opt for a pair of black dress pants, dark blue silk button-up shirt, dress socks, and my black leather dress shoes.  
I pick up my wallet and keys from the bedside table on my way out the door. It is a 18:35 by now, I need to get my ass over to Steph's.  
After climbing into my truck in the garage, I hit the streets. It doesn't take me long to get to Steph's place. I pull into her parking lot at 18:48.  
I walk across the parking lot and make my way into her building and up to her apartment on the 2nd floor. I use my key to let myself in.  
"Babe, I'm here, you almost ready? We need to get going."  
"On my way out, I am ready, I'm coming." She calls back to me from the vicinity of her bedroom.  
When she appears in the living room, she takes my breath away. She is wearing a short, low-cut, deep blood red dress that hugs her every curve.  
"You look fabulous, babe." I tell her honestly.  
"Thanks. Our reservation is at 7 right?" She asks.  
"Yes, we need to get going or we will be late." I reply.  
She smiles up at me and nods her head. She grabs her purse from the sofa and we head out.  
Good thing we made all the stop lights, and arrive at Rossini's with two minutes to spare. We quickly make our way to the door and enter. I tell the hostess the name on our reservation.  
"Manoso, for 7:00, reservation for two."  
"Yes sir, right this way please."  
The hostess leads us to a quiet table in the corner, just like I like it. I pull Steph's chair out for her and take my seat with my back to the wall. Habit.  
The waitress stops at our table and takes our drink and dinner orders.  
"I'll have the grilled salmon and a salad please, with water to drink, and also a bottle of red wine. What would you like babe?"  
"I'll take lasagna, a side salad, and garlic bread please."   
"Great, I'll get these orders to the kitchen, and I'll be back with your wine in a moment. Enjoy your meal." The waitress says.  
A minute or so later she returns with our wine and pours me the "tasting" sip in my glass. I lift my glass, sniff the wine, swirl it around some and finally take a sip. I nod my acceptance and she pours Steph a glass and refills mine before she walks away.  
Steph picks up a breadstick from the basket in the center of the table and starts munching. She swallows her first bite, then speaks.  
"This is nice. It's been a long time since I went out on a real date."  
"All that is going to change now, babe. I intend on taking you out quite a bit and spoiling you rotten to boot." I tell her.  
She smiles across the table at me as she continues to eat her breadstick. It is at that moment when the waitress arrives with our meals.  
Steph doesn't hesitate to start to dig in and enjoy her lasagna, moaning through every bite. I groan and shift in my seat. What this woman does to me!  
After we finish our meals, Steph asks.  
"So what's for desert?"  
I look across at her with lust in my eyes. I wolf-grin at her as I say.  
"Tiramisu, to go."  
As she understands my meaning, she blushes brightly. She is so attractive when she blushes.  
When the waitress picks up our dirty dishes, I tell her to box up an order or two of tiramisu for us.  
She returns minutes later with our dessert and the check. I quickly hand her my credit card. She returns again in a minute or so with the receipt for me to sign.  
We are done now and on our way out the door within seconds, in the truck soon after, and shortly after that pulling up in her apartment parking lot.  
"Wait, we were supposed to go see a movie too, weren't we?" Steph inquires.  
"Later." I growl out.  
I lead her up to her apartment and do my standard security check. After declaring everything is clear, I close and lock the door. Steph has stepped into the living room and is putting her purse down on the coffee table.  
I walk up to her and grab her from behind. I spin her around in my arms and begin to kiss her senseless. I pull her tighter in my arms. She responds to my kisses by wrapping her legs around my waist.  
I start walking us to her bedroom. When my legs hit the edge of the bed, I gently lay Steph down on the comforter. We swiftly are removing each other's clothes.  
I cannot control myself any longer, I am inside her within moments. She gasps out in surprise and desire. I am bringing us both to ecstasy within a few minutes.   
I gather her up in my arms and hold her close afterward. We lie quiet and still for a few minutes to regain our breath. I notice Steph's breathing pattern slow down and regulate, yepp she's asleep.  
OK, since I'm off line I decide to take a nap myself. I have plans for my babe later, multiple plans for multiple rounds. I close my eyes and easily drop off.  
I am jolted awake hours later by the ringing of a phone. I know it's not either on of our cell phones, they are Rangeman issue and have a particular ring tone, even though Steph has reset hers. I still know what her's sounds like. This ringing sounds more like her house phone.  
Sure enough it's her cordless phone on her beside table that is ringing. Steph sits up and reaches over to answer it.  
"Hello." She pauses to listen to the other end. She is scrunching her brow and listening intently. "Who is this?!"  
She is starting to look agitated now. I see her face turn ashen white then tears begin to fall down her lovely face.  
"Who is this!!! Why are you doing this?? Stop it please!"  
"Babe, what's wrong?"  
She drops the phone onto the bed and runs to the bathroom. I pick the phone up and bring it to my ear. I listen for a moment and what I hear sickens me.  
I am hearing the sounds of a woman being tortured. He cries and screams of pain and a devious laughter in the background. I try to find out who it is myself, but they hang up after hearing my voice. I replace the phone on the charger and get up to go check on Steph in the bathroom.  
I knock on the door gently before I enter. I speak slowly and quietly so as not to startle Steph.  
"Babe, what's wrong? Who was that on the phone? Are you alright?"  
She is sitting on the floor by the toilet and has obviously been sick. She is also still crying softly. I allow her time to calm down. She takes some time to regain her composure then she finally speaks.  
"That poor woman, I don't know who she was, but I know she was in trouble. That sick bastard was raping and torturing her as I listened."  
"Do you know who it was?" I ask her.  
"Y.... Y.... yes, when I first picked up I recognized the voice. I would know his voice anywhere. Sick son-of-a-bitch!"  
"Babe, who was it?"  
"It was Ramirez! I also recognized that sick childish laugh of his." She cries.  
"I know he mistreats women, but we could never find enough evidence to get him arrested. His manager always hushes up the victims for him. We may never be able to get charges to stick to him." I tell her regretfully.  
"We have to try! I have an answering machine on my phone. The next time he calls, we'll record him."  
"Babe, what makes you think he'll call you the next time he attacks?"  
"I have a feeling. He enjoyed it when I was listening, got him off. Of course he'll call me again. It's his sick way of having fun. He gets off on the torture of women and that's his way of torturing me!"  
"OK babe, I believe you. We'll do it your way." I re-assure her as I hold her in my arms rocking her.  
"Let's go to the kitchen and get you a drink, I hope you have some hard stuff, you're gonna need it." I say.  
She nods her head and slowly rises, flushing the toilet and making her way to the sink to brush her teeth and rinse her mouth.  
"I think I have a part of a bottle of Jack Daniels in the cabinet above the fridge. Grandma Mazur left it when she stayed with me for the weekend a few months ago." She tells me on the way to the kitchen.  
I look in the cabinet she told me to and find a small amount of Jack left in a bottle. 'It will have to do', I think to myself as I pour it into a glass for Steph.  
Steph looks at me with tears in her eyes again as she takes the glass from me and sips at the dark liquid. She coughs a bit as the first sip goes down. The next one, the last one, goes down smoother I can tell.  
"How do you feel now?" I ask her.  
"Better, except for my throat being on fire now." She giggles.  
"Good, you think you can go back to sleep now? Or should I call Bobby to bring you something to help you sleep?"  
"No, don't bother Bobby, I think I'll be able to go to sleep by myself, as long as you stay and hold me through the night that is."  
"Done." I tell her as I walk her back to the bedroom.  
We snuggle back together under the covers and I pull her tightly to me, her back to my front. I let her know before we drift off.  
"We should pay a visit to Ramirez's manager tomorrow. His name is Jimmy Alpha. His office is above the gym on Stark. We'll go see him and apply some pressure."  
"M'kay." I hear her reply groggily.   
I chuckle to myself and tell her to go to sleep and we'll talk about it more in the morning. I cuddle up against her and draw in the scent of her hair as I close my eyes and join her in oblivion.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
The next day ..............

I woke up to the feeling of tender butterfly kisses along my neck and shoulder. I growl out loud as I wake completely and open my eyes to see Steph's bright blue ones staring back at me.  
"You keep that up and we will be having breakfast extremely late this morning, babe."  
"You tease." She jokes as she bounds out of bed and darts toward the bathroom, naked and making me groan again and making my dick show it's approval for her state of undress.  
I jump up and follow her to the shower. How did she get the water started and get in so damn fast?! I wonder.  
I open the shower curtain and join her underneath the water. 45 satisfying minutes later we are drying off and getting dressed for the day.  
"Let's go talk to Alpha and get that over with. I'm really not looking forward to meeting him." Steph says after we are dressed and on our way to out the front door.  
We pile into my truck, buckle up, and I start the drive over to Stark street. I park a block away from the gym entrance. We get out of the truck and make our way up the staircase turning to the right to Alpha's office instead of left to the gym.  
I raise my hand and knock forcefully on the door to his office. I hear his squeaky voice reply.  
"Come in."  
I straighten my posture and open the door. Alpha is sitting behind his desk and when he looks up from his papers to see me, his face falls and darkens considerably. Good, he's scared!  
"Ranger, good to see you. How can I help you today? Want to make a bet on the champ's next fight?" He asks.  
"No. I only bet on sure things now-a-days. But I did come to talk to you about Benito."  
"What do you want to know?"  
"Not what I want to know, it's what he's doing again. He called Steph at her house last night while he was raping and torturing a woman. You need to get him under control Alpha. Or I will!"  
"No, don't do that! Leave him be, he don't know what he's doing. He's a good kid, just has a thing for the ladies. I'll get him some help, I promise!"  
"Fine. But if he ever contacts Steph again, all bets are off!"  
"Yea, sure, fine, ok, ok, I'll do it."  
"Please, Mr. Alpha, do it, get him the help he so desperately needs." Steph begs him after I make the introductions.  
"I swear I will Ms. Plum." Alpha answers her.  
"Thank-you." She replies.  
I nod my head in Alpha's direction then turn us to the door to leave.  
We go back out and hop in the truck. I turn and ask Steph.  
"Where to now, babe?"  
"I got to go by the bond's office and see if Connie has anything for me, then I'm going to have lunch at my parent's. Want to join me?" She asks with a grin.  
"I'll pass this time babe, but I'll drop you at your apartment so you can get your SUV and handle your business. I have meetings all afternoon, so I'll be busy for the whole day."  
"OK, Ric, drive on then." She laughs.  
I drive over to her apartment and drop her off at the parking lot and her vehicle. I give her a kiss good-bye and we go our separate ways.  
I think to myself as I pull away from her building. 'Till next time babe.'  
#################


	8. Chapter 8

SPOV

The last few days have been hectic. First of all Morelli is really starting to get on my bad side, then Alpha is protecting his "problem child" Ramirez, and then Ramirez. Ramirez has brought the term "torture" to a whole different level. That phone call a couple of days ago was beyond wrong and disturbing on so many levels.  
And speaking of torture, tonight is dinner with my crazy family. But at least I don't have to go through it alone. Ric will be right by my side. I can't believe he's putting himself up against Grandma's hands and fingers again. He must really like me! Either that or he's a glutton for punishment!  
Which is why he is picking me up in an hour. It's almost 5 and we need to be at my parent's house by 6 or dinner will be ruined according to my mom. But I will be the good daughter and show up and accept her not-so-subtle hints about how my life is wasting away.  
I only have an hour to get ready so I best get my butt in the shower and start the beautifying process. I shower, cleanse, shave, exfoliate, and lotion up every inch of my body. After I wash my hair twice, OK three times, a Jersey girl's hair can never be too clean, you know. And I can never tell how long it's going to take me to get my hair to cooperate.  
It seems to be doing as I want it to tonight. After blow-drying and using my hot rollers, my hair is falling around my shoulders in soft waves. 'Looking good, thank goodness'. I think to myself as I head to the closet to choose my outfit. I settle on a pair of butt-hugging jeans and a snug yellow t-shirt.  
I am in the bathroom applying the last, fourth, coat of mascara; hey I need all the courage I can get, I'm having dinner at my parents; when I feel a presence behind me. I look over my shoulder and see Ric's reflection. I then feel his arms wrap around me and hear his voice whisper in my ear.  
"Looking good enough to eat, babe."  
"Mmmmmm ..... thanks Ric, but we need to get going, we only have a few minutes before Mom will claim dinner is ruined and blame me." I sulk.  
"OK, I'll be in the living room, come out when you're done." He says.  
"I am done now, let's go." I tell him.  
I pick up my purse from the night stand by the bed and we make our way to the front door. Ric locks up behind us and we make our way to his truck in the parking lot.  
A few minutes later we are pulling up in front of my parent's house. My Mom and Grandma are standing behind the screen door, as usual.  
"Is it too late to turn back?" I ask him.  
"Babe, it won't be that bad, I'm here with you. Just keep your Granny's hands and pinchers away from me and my ass please!" He sighs.  
I laugh out loud. "No promises!"  
I swear he actually sighed. We climb out of the truck and head up the walkway to face the music. I have my arm around Ric's waist, trying to block Grandma's access to his nether regions.  
"Hi Grandma, hi Mom," I say as we reach the door.  
"Stephanie, and Ric, is it? It's good to see you again." My Mom says.  
We squeeze our way by my mom and grandma as we make our way into the house. I look over to the living room and call out to my Dad.  
"Hey Daddy."  
"Pumpkin," he answers as he momentarily looks up from the news playing on the TV.  
"Ric, why don't you sit here and get to know Dad some and I'll help Grandma and Mom in the kitchen till dinner time." I suggest.  
Ric kisses my temple and nods before sitting down on the sofa and joining my Dad watching the news.  
Minutes later dinner is ready and Mom asks me to get the men from the living room. I call out to Dad and Ric telling them that dinner is ready and to come on to the dining room.  
After a quiet dinner of lasagna, salad, and garlic bread, wait did Ric actually eat lasagna, Mom brings out the chocolate cake for dessert. I cannot help myself, I moan through three pieces. Ric was looking at me with a pained expression halfway through the second piece.  
We are making our way to the front door soon after, thank goodness. I can hardly believe we had a complete meal without incident. After we are once again buckled in the truck I speak.  
"I can't believe it! That was the nicest meal I have ever had at my parent's house. It was actually pretty normal!"  
"I can't believe your grabby granny behaved." Ric says in awe.  
"I can't believe you actually ate lasagna, it's fattening you know."  
"I can't believe you ate three pieces of cake, it will go straight to your hips babe." He jokes.  
"You'll just have to help me work it off later, hot stuff!" I grin back at him.  
I see Ric's eyes darken as he wolf-grins back at me and starts the truck. "Later babe."  
"Let's head to my place and watch some movies while dinner digests." I tell him.  
"Whatever you want babe." He replies.  
We arrive back at my apartment minutes later. And of course, Ric has to do his standard security check before he will let me walk through the door.  
"Is everything safe? No boogey men waiting to slash me into itty bitty pieces?" I tease.  
"Smart ass!" Ric laughs. "So get whatever movie started that you want to watch, just no "Ghostbusters" please." He pleads.  
"You're no fun." I tease back. I make my way over to my movie collection and choose tonight's comfort film. Let's see what he thinks of "Ghost".  
The opening credits begin to roll and I hear Ric sigh.  
" 'Ghost', babe, really?" He groans.  
"Well you said no "Ghostbusters", so this is it, take it or leave it?"  
Ric chuckles and leans back into the couch cushions taking me back with him in his arms. We settle back and begin to watch Patrick Swayze at his best.  
RPOV

I sit back on Steph's couch with her in my arms. There is nothing in the world like quiet times holding the one you love. Whoa, did I just think that?? Oh hell, I'm in trouble!  
Halfway through the movie my babe starts to doze off. I chuckle to myself. I pull her tighter in my arms and decide to catch a few winks, too.  
I am awakened by a crashing noise close by. I feel Steph jerk awake in my arms also.  
"What in the world was that?" She asks.  
"I don't know babe. It sounded like it came from outside, down-stairs, the parking lot maybe." I tell her as we get up to go investigate.  
We go to the dining area to look out the window there. I am quickly scanning everything in the parking lot and the immediate area. I see a flash of silver in the distance going down St. James street. Just as I start to comprehend what I have seen, I hear a faint moan coming from the vicinity of Steph's fire escape.  
"What the ..... " Steph starts as she makes a bee-line for her bedroom.  
When we reach the bedroom we don't see anything, but we hear another grunt coming from the window. Steph goes to the window and rips the curtains open. The look on her face is pure nausea as she takes in the scene before us.  
Tied by sheets to her fire escape is a large black woman. The sheets are stained with her blood. She has been beaten nearly beyond recognition. But I recognize her as the whore on the street we talked to earlier in the week. She has also obviously been raped and stabbed repeatedly.  
I look back at Steph and she is absolutely green in the gills. I pull my phone off of my hip and dial 911. As we are waiting for the ambulance to arrive, I try to settle Steph down.  
"Babe, sit down. Put your head between your knees, that's it, push against my hand. Breathe in slowly and deeply." I tell her.  
While Steph is getting back under control, I go out to the fire escape again to check on our victim. I feel for a pulse at her neck. It is faint, but there. I hear sirens getting nearer. I look up to see the ambulance pulling into the parking lot.  
The paramedics make their way up the stairs and rush into Steph's bedroom. I move out of their way and let them work.  
"How is she? Is she going to live?" I ask them.  
"Too early to tell yet, sir. We have to get her to the hospital immediately. She has lost alot of blood." One of them tells me.  
They get her loaded on the stretcher and out the door fairly quickly and efficiently. But they have left an awful mess on Steph's bedroom floor, well it's not their fault.  
Steph is still looking a little green, but better. I ask her.  
"You know who that was?"  
"Yes, it looked like that prostitute we were talking to on Stark a few days ago. Wasn't it?" She asks.  
I nod my head at her as I add. "Yes, I thought it looked like her too. You want to go to the hospital and check on her, don't you?"  
She shakily nods her head. "OK, let's go then. I'll drop you off and then come back here to keep a look out in case he comes back." I offer her.  
"You know me so well Ric, I am worried about her. That guy is sick. How could anyone do that to another human being? She may have been a prostitute, but she didn't deserve that. No one does!"  
"She will be OK babe, let's go so you can see. You need to be reassured. I understand." I say to her.  
She heads down to the parking lot after she grabs her purse. I am lagging behind and locking up the apartment for her. I make a fast call as I head down the stairs.  
"Yo, clean-up crew, Yeah Steph's. I'll explain later. OK."  
Steph is already buckled in my truck when I reach it. I crank up and head to Saint Francis, that's where the ambulance crew said they were taking her.  
I drop Steph off at the ER doors, give her a quick kiss, tell her I'll see her in a little while, and to call me when she's ready to come home.  
I turn the truck towards Stark. I have a few words I want to have with Jimmy Alpha.  
I park around the corner and head up the stairs to his office. I fore-go knocking and barge right in.  
"Yo, Jimmy, we need to talk." I announce as I stop in front of his desk.  
Jimmy looks up from his computer screen and visibly pales.  
"Oh, shit. What now?" He groans.  
"Benito, of course. I told you if he contacted Steph again all bets were off. Well he did. He raped and nearly killed one of his whores. Left her bleeding and tied to Steph's fire escape." I inform him.  
"Wait? That can't be true. What?? How do you know it was Benito?" He stammers.  
"I saw his silver corvette leaving the scene. It was him Jimmy. And that's the final straw. All bets are off now. He's mine!!" I threaten and then turn to leave. I hear Alpha begging me not to do anything rash as I walk away.  
'Tough!' I think to myself as I walk back down stairs and to my truck. The cleaning crew should be at Steph's by now anyway.  
When I pull back into the parking lot at Steph's apartment I see a couple of my black SUV's that my employees use. I wonder who Tank sent to take care of this.  
I enter Steph's place and see that it is Cal and Hal. Hal is a good choice, he is our resident evidence investigator, like our own personal CSI.  
"How is it going? Find out anything? Get anything we can use later?" I ask Hal.  
"Foot print in blood and a couple of black hairs in the metal railings on the fire escape. I bagged and tagged. I'll look into it when I get back to Rangeman." Hal replies.  
I nod my assent. "Good." I tell him.  
They have almost gotten rid of all of the blood and other debris. Everything should be all clear in 30 minutes or so. I only hire the best.  
True to my thinking, they have the apartment clean like new in less than 30 minutes. They pack up the equipment and head back down to the SUVs. I shake each of their hands and thank them on their way out.  
I sit down on the couch and watch TV as I wait for Steph to call. I wake up later. I look at my watch, it is nearly 6 a.m. Why hasn't Steph called me yet?  
I call her cell phone.  
"Yo, babe. What's up? How is she?" I ask her.  
"She's got alot of damage, especially to her female parts. She lost alot of blood. She's just regained consciousness. She's in alot of pain. I wanted to stay till she woke up, that's why I haven't called you to come get me yet." She explains.  
"It's fine babe, I was a little worried, but I'm glad she is going to be OK. So are you ready to come home now?"  
"Yeah, I guess so. I know she's stable now and I am starving." She giggles.  
"I'll be there in 10 and I'll make you a nice breakfast when we get back." I tell her.  
"Sounds good Ric. See you in a few then." She answers.  
I hang up and head to the truck to go get her. I stop by the grocery store on our way home to pick up breakfast fixings. I am in the mood for some steak and eggs. I'll be putting in an extra hour of running later to balance it out though.  
'But it is worth it seeing my babe smile. Not to mention hearing her enjoy her food such as she does.' I walk her into her apartment taking the bags of grocery with me.   
I lock the door behind us and make my way to the kitchen to start our meal. This feels almost domestic, I laugh to myself. But Steph deserves things to be hot! #################


	9. Chapter 9

RPOV  
So here I am bad-ass ex Army Ranger standing in a mid-grade apartment doing domestic stuff like frying up these steaks and scrambling eggs. The things I will do for my Babe. It's a good thing my men can't see me now. The would tease me relentlessly for months!!  
As I turn the steaks over for the final time, Steph walks up behind me and wraps her arms around my waist.  
"Smells wonderful, Ric, where did you learn to cook?" She asks me.  
"My Mama and Abuela taught me. They thought we all should know how to fend for ourselves." I tell her. "Pass me a bowl so I can get started on the eggs babe."  
Steph reaches in the cabinet and hands me a small mixing bowl. I crack 6 eggs into it and fluff them with a fork before adding them to the hot skillet. After a few minutes the eggs are done and it's time to plate everything up.  
Steph hands me two plates and I add everything to them. Then walk them over to the table.  
We sit down and enjoy our breakfast in mostly silence, except of course for Steph's moaning throughout. I groan and shift in my seat. And I swear Steph just smirks at me behind her hand.  
After helping her clean up the dishes I ask Steph what she has planned for today.  
"I need to go by the office and see if Connie has any new FTA's for me. After that, I'm kinda open to look for Morelli. What about you?"  
"I have a couple of morning meetings scheduled. I'll call you when I get done with them and we'll discuss what to do about Morelli."  
"OK. I have to go to the little girl's room right fast. Wait here and I'll walk you out when you leave." She says.  
"Alright babe, I'll make a quick phone call while I wait." I explain.  
She gives me a peck on the cheek and darts toward the bathroom down the hall.  
As she turns the corner, I pick up my phone off of my hip and dial my second-in-command, Tank.  
"Yo, I need a crew to pick up someone. Get Bobby, Les, Hal, Cal, Hector, Woody, Ram, and Vince on it. Two teams, unless you can get a third team together. But these are the guys I trust the most with this operation. Yeah, who we were talking about. No, just keep him downstairs till I get there. OK, thanks man."  
I know all the men I mentioned to Tank, including Tank himself, will love to get a piece of him when they find out what he did.  
As I hang up I notice Steph has rejoined me. I wonder how much of that she heard? Well I didn't name anyone so it should be all good.

SPOV

I'm on my way back to the living room when I hear Ric on the phone with someone. I pause my steps to listen in. I know it's wrong, but hey, I'm curious.  
I hear him telling someone to "pick someone up" and leave them downstairs till he gets there. I wonder what that's about? Who is he having picked up and where are they taking them? I wonder if I should ask Ric about it. Yes I will, I'm just that curious.  
"I'm back. What was that about? Sorry to be nosy, but I can't help myself." I timidly tell him.  
"Nothing for you to worry about babe. Just someone we have been looking for. I was telling my second in command to set up a crew to round him up for me. I'll take care of it later, after they bring him in for me." He tries to explain.   
I still think he's hiding some of it from me. But oh well, I'll find out soon enough.  
"OK, you best get to your meetings. I'll see you later, maybe we could do lunch." I tell him as I give him a tight hug and a kiss.  
Of course he is not settling for a simple kiss. He has to deepen it. Hell, there goes another pair of panties. I sigh and reluctantly let him go.  
"Now get going Ric. I'll see you in a few hours for lunch." I tell him as I shoo him out the door.  
"I don't want to leave, but you're right babe. I have a business to run. And I will see you for lunch." He says as he inches away from me.  
I give him one last peck and close the door behind him.  
I pick up my purse from the coffee table and head out the door, locking up behind me. I have to visit the office.  
Two hours later I come back home. Connie still doesn't have any new files for me, business is slow. The criminals are being good for right now.  
It's now 10:30 a.m. and I didn't sleep much last night so I think I'll lay down and try to catch a nap until Ric shows up.

RPOV

The meetings are going well, no break-ins, no one reporting anything out of the ordinary either. Good for me. After I close the last meeting out, I tell the core team to stick around.  
"Tank, Les, Bobby, stay behind. We have someone to discuss." I alert them.  
After all the men file out and get back to their assigned tasks, Tank closes the door. He takes his seat once more and we begin.  
"What's up Ric?" He asks.  
"What's this about?" Bobby adds.  
I look over at Bobby and Les as I ask.  
"You remember the new BEA I was helping with her FTA, Dodd, who nicked me in the leg?" I say.  
"Yea, she was hot! What, you giving her up already cuz?" Lester teases.  
"Knock it off Santos!!" I growl. "Yea that's the one. She was left a present on her balcony last night. Our old pal Ramirez took out his aggression on one of his hookers. Cut her up bad, raped her, and left her to die. He's also been leaving Steph threatening messages."  
I notice all three men tense up with rage. I knew they would not stand for this bull-shit.  
"What can we do?" Tank replies.  
"That's why I called you earlier. Set up those teams like I asked and bring him in. Drop his ass in one of the holding cells down stairs and we will all teach him how to treat a lady." I utter through gritted teeth.  
"Hoo-rah!!" I hear a chorus of agreement. I knew I could count on my brothers.  
"Let me know when he is delivered." I tell Tank. "Dismissed!"  
I look at my watch. It's nearly 1300. I pick up my phone and dial Steph. It takes her several rings to pick up. What's up with that?  
I find out why when she answers half-asleep it sounds.  
" 'Lo."  
"Yo babe, you OK? You sound sleepy."  
"Just thought I'd take a nap while I waited for you. Connie didn't have any new files for me." She croaks out.  
"Too bad. You ready for lunch?" I ask.  
"Yepp, come on over." She says. Then I hear her add under her breath. "I could use some tasty Cuban buns to nibble on."  
She must have thought she said that last bit to herself. I feel my pants tighten in response.  
"I'll bring your buns over in 10 babe." I tell her with my wolf-grin and hang up before she can reply.  
I head down to the garage and climb into my truck. I arrive at her parking lot in less than 10. Wonder if I was in a hurry?  
I make my way up the stairs to her door on the 2nd floor. I try the knob, good it's locked. I knock lightly on the door.  
I hear her moving about inside. The locks tumble and she cracks the door open with the chain still attached. A grin lights up her face as she peers out at me.  
She closes the door again to release the chain. I'm glad she checked to see who it was before just throwing the door open. She is taking her safety more serious now. I smile broadly at the thought as I walk in and close and lock the door behind me.  
"One set of Cuban buns delivered to your door ma'am as you requested." I joke.  
I see her blush bright red, but with a mischievous twinkle in her blue eyes; which are getting darker by the minute.  
"Very fast and efficient service." She giggles.  
"I aim to please." I tell her without a doubt.  
"I'll hold you to that promise." She sighs.  
I can no longer stand her without her in my arms. I take the two steps toward her and pull her to me. I attack her lips feverishly as the last of my control vanishes. When we come up for air I growl out.  
"What you do to me babe."  
"What do you want me to do to you?" She teases.  
"Anything and everything you want babe." I tell her honestly.  
This time she reaches up and begins to kiss me in earnest. My hands find their way under her shirt and quickly and efficiently unhook her bra. My hand makes it's way back around to tease and toy with her already pebbled nipples. She moans into my mouth.  
I bend my knees and pick her up effortlessly. I make my way down the hall to her bedroom, still tasting her lips all the while. Once we reach our destination, I carefully lay her down on the bed.  
I break away from her lips long enough to straighten back up to whip my shirt off over my head and toss it to the floor behind me. I reach into one of the pockets of my cargos and remove a condom package.  
As I am starting to remove my weapons and gun belt, I see her start to work on her jeans.  
"No, let me." I offer huskily.  
After quickly ridding myself of my clothes and donning my protection, I bend down to start to assist her with her clothes. I tug her shirt up and off of her body first. Then I remove her bra easily since it is already hanging there unfastened.  
I lean down to take her lips again possessively, while my right hand teases her nipple, twisting and pinching playfully. She groans and leans into me, rubbing her jean-clad mound against my ever-hardening erection.  
I move my hand from her breast down to the button on her jeans and nimbly flick it open and draw the zipper down deftly. She picks her hips up and I remove her jeans the rest of the way. I lean back and look at her lying before me wearing only a small pair of lacy black panties. She has already gotten them soaked with her arousal. I growl my approval.  
I lie down on top of her holding most of my weight up on my forearms. I take her lips again in a passionate kiss. I sneak my hand down her abdomen to the top of her panties and cup her mound in my large hand. I run my middle finger along her soaking wet split. I can't believe how wet she is for me.  
I plunge a finger into her core and she jerks her hips up off of the bed as she cries out her first release. I remove my finger and swiftly rip her ruined panties off of her body.  
As she comes down from her high I slowly ease myself into her tight heat. I close my eyes and moan at the sheer joy of the feeling of being so tightly encased in her. It is like heaven the feeling of being wrapped around by her.  
I give her a moment to adjust to my size before I start to move, slowly at first. After a moment or two she is moaning her second release. I can no longer take it. I begin to pound into her body relentlessly. As she screams my name for the third time, I come apart inside of her with my own orgasm.  
"Damn babe, I will never get tired of that. You will always make me want you." I admit when I can breathe again.  
I flop over on my side after I pull out of her and dispose of the condom in the trash.  
Once she is able to talk again she informs me.  
"That was hot as always. But we really need to get up and look for Morelli some. His bond is up in 3 days and I still have no clue where to look for him."  
"Well we can just roll around his usual haunts and see if anything jumps out at us." I say.  
"OK." She replies as she gets up to go to the bathroom.  
After we both shower and dress we decide to head out.  
"Where to first?" She asks as we load up in my truck.  
"Let's stake out Stark and see what's happening there." I suggest.  
She nods her agreement and we head out toward Stark street. I pull up in the shadows a block away from the gym. We settle in to watch the regulars for a while.  
There's not much movement but it's still early. An hour or two later it's gotten dark. It's around 1800 so thing should start to pick up now.  
I hear Steph gasp and realize why. We spot Morelli coming out of the building across from the gym. We watch him walk to a dark panel van parked to the side of the building. He is not aware of his surroundings because he is too involved in a phone call. He's holding a cell phone up to his ear and talking animatedly.  
"Wonder what he's up to?" Steph wonders aloud.  
"No idea. But let's keep an eye on him." I respond.  
We sit there for a few more minutes. I feel my cell phone buzz on my hip. I pick it up to read a text I just received. *Trash delivery. Waiting on you. T* I grin to myself.  
I look up from my phone as I put it back on my hip. I notice a silver corvette come around from behind the gym. It is Ramirez's. The windows are tinted so I don't know who's driving. I do know that it is NOT Benito. I also notice that the van Morelli is in starts up and falls behind the corvette. I fall in place 3 car lengths behind Morelli's van. Let's see what he's up to.  
"What in the world is going on? Why is Morelli following Ramirez?" Steph asks.  
"Don't know babe, but we will find out when they stop." I reassure her.  
We follow Morelli and the corvette to the out-skirts of town. Looks to me like they are headed for the river. After a few more miles I realize that they are headed to the marina.  
'What the fuck is going on?' I think to myself.  
The corvette stops beside a refrigerated truck near the docks. Morelli pulls in a bit away from them, and I pull over behind some trees 200 yards from Morelli.  
I am not surprised to see Jimmy Alpha climb out of Ramirez's corvette. He heads over to the refrigerator truck. After Alpha is out of sight, Morelli crawls out of the van and sneaks over to hide near the truck.  
"Do you have your gun babe?"  
"Yeah, why?"   
"Grab it and come on. Let's see what these guys are up to. No good I bet."  
We both get out of my truck and stealthily follow Morelli to the refrigerator truck. I creep up on the driver's side and hear voices coming from the rear.  
"What the hell have you done? You almost ruined me. And now you put a cap in Ziggy. What the fuck man?!" Morelli yells. "And where is Carmen?"  
I peek around the corner of the truck and see Morelli standing in front of Alpha. They both have guns drawn and trained on each other. They are standing to the rear of the open truck door.  
I nod to Steph and mouth silently. 'Go around and keep your gun on Alpha.'  
She nods back that she understands and she walks back around me to the other side of the truck. We both step out at the same time with our guns out and pointed at Morelli and Alpha.  
"Don't move Jimmy." I threaten.  
"You're under arrest Joe, you're coming with me." Steph says.  
"The hell I am Cupcake!" Joe shouts.  
Then a whole lot of shit happens at once. Morelli lunges for Steph. His gun arm falls and his trigger finger slips. The bullet zings off of the bumper of the truck and ricochets hitting Steph. I see red. At the same time Alpha turns to fire at Steph, but I hit him first in the base of the neck, killing him instantly.  
Steph is in full rhino mode and makes a flying tackle taking Morelli down to the ground trying to scratch his eyes out the whole time, while yelling at the top of her lungs.  
"You're scum Morelli. You shot me you bastard!!"  
I don't know if I should pull her off of Morelli or let her have at him. I am so proud of her right now.  
She sits back on her heels straddling Morelli's waist and is still steaming.   
"Move over babe, let me handle this." I try.  
She reluctantly rolls off of Morelli and I roll him over to cuff him. He is not too happy with either of us right now either. I turn to Steph and ask.  
"You alright? Where are you hit? Let me see."  
She turns her back to me and I see a small spot of blood right in the middle of her right cheek.  
"He got you in the ass babe?" I chuckle.  
She just growls and huffs at me with fire in her eyes.  
"Laugh it up Batman! This shit is so not funny!"  
"OK. You need to go get that looked at?" I offer.  
"Not yet. Let's take care of these two first." She adds.  
We load Morelli up in my truck. I cuff his ankles to the bar in the rear floor board. We call the TPD to take our statements and take care of Alpha and the other bodies.   
The responding officer, Eddie Gazzara asks me if I want him to take Joe to the station for us.  
"Hell no!!!" Steph all but screeches at him. "I'm taking his ass to the station. He's my first capture as a BEA and I want to do it right."  
Gazzara backs away from Steph with his hands held out in front of him in a defensive gesture.  
"OK, OK Steph, I was just trying to help. Don't bite my head off."  
After all the paperwork is done, the TPD and Gazzara leave the cleaning to the CSI team. We are now free to go.  
"You ready to go get that pain in your ass checked out now babe?" I tease.  
"Hardy har har funny man, sure let's go. But can I go let your medic check it out. I hate hospitals." She pleads.  
"Sure babe, whatever you want. Bobby is the best." I inform her.  
We climb in my truck and head over to my offices on Haywood. Of course we drop Morelli off first at the station and pick up Steph's body receipt. She is glowing with pride. So am I.  
"I want to give you a part of the capture fee Ric. I probably wouldn't have got him if it wasn't for you." She reveals.  
"Not necessary babe." I tell her.  
"I insist. You had a huge part of helping me. Please take part of it, for me." She bats her eyes at me. I sigh and shrug my shoulders. The things I do for her.  
We arrive at Haywood and I fob my way into the underground parking garage. I pull into one of my spaces near the elevator and we ease out of the truck. I call Bobby on my cell as we reach the elevator.  
"Meet me and Steph at the infirmary. She took a ricochet. She wants you to clean and stitch it up for her. OK."  
"Was that Bobby?" Steph inquires.  
"Yea, he's meeting in his clinic on 3 in 5 minutes. He said he is happy to help you." I tell her.  
We exit the elevator on 3 just as Bobby enters from the stairwell. He was in his apartment on 4 when I called him.  
I notice when we enter the clinic that Steph's posture has tightened up. I wonder what's wrong.  
"What's wrong babe?" I whisper to her.  
"I'm a little nervous about this. I never thought about Bobby having to see my naked butt until now." She whispers back.  
"He's seen asses before babe, although all of the ones he has seen before have mostly been hairy." I chuckle out loud.  
She does look a little relieved after that, or is it amused? Bobby speaks up as we close the door to the clinic behind us.  
"What's the damage? I don't see any wounds."  
Steph blushes and turns her back to Bobby. He looks confused before his attention is drawn to below her waist.  
"How did you manage to catch a bullet in the ass honey?"   
"Damn Morelli, damn ricochet, damn cooler truck!" She grumbles.  
I can hardly keep my face blank from wanting to laugh my ass off.  
"Just fix me up please?" She begs.  
"You got it. Drop your pants and bend over. I'll give you a local." Bobby suddenly goes into medic mode.  
I take this opportunity to let Steph know I'm leaving for a few minutes.  
"Babe, I have to go check on something. I'll be back by the time Bobby is done with your stitches. You're in good hands, the best there is." I let her know.  
She shakes her head that she understood, so I turn and exit the room. I enter the stairwell and make my way down to the basement holding cells.  
As I reach the door to the occupied cell, I see Woody is standing guard. I nod my acknowledgement to him as I enter.  
Ramirez is sitting handcuffed to a metal table, slouched in a chair and looking worse for wear. 'Good, you deserve it.' I think to myself. I speak to Tank, who is grinning smugly.  
"Everyone get their piece of the action?"  
"Yepp, everyone got their licks in. It took 3 of us to pull Woody off of him though. You know how he is. Takes his job as southern gentleman's chivalry seriously man." Tank laughs out loud.  
"We all are like that man. We don't take kindly to pieces of shit like this who mistreat women. He deserves everything he gets and worse. Death is too humane for him. But I will enjoy it still." I grouse.  
I walk over to Ramirez and spit out.  
"Yo Benito, you still with us?"  
He slowly looks up at me with two black eyes and several bruises to his face. It looks like someone broke his nose and jaw, too. I take in his other evident injuries. I see what appears to be a broken leg, if that bone sticking out is any indicator. I also see several shallow cuts to his face and chest. Looks like Hector has been playing with his knives again. I can't see any more obvious injuries so I ask Tank.  
"What all did they guys do to him?"  
"You can see Hector had his fun with his blades. Vince broke both his knee caps. Hal did that damage to his face using only his fists. Cal cut off most of his fingers. The rest of us just beat the shit out of him. Hell, Woody branded the OU logo on his ass." Tank is chuckling by now.  
I have a sly grin on my own face by now. I return my attention to Ramirez. He is still looking up at me, tho now it is through swollen eyes. I speak to him once again.  
"You know why we brought you here?"  
He doesn't say anything, just stares back at me.  
"You fucked with the wrong woman, MY woman. And I never liked the way you treat women. You are a piece of filth and were treated as such."  
Ramirez just snarls and spits on my boot.  
"Wrong move asshole!" I say as I pull my beretta out of it's holster.  
I raise my gun and ask him one last time. "Give me one reason not to put a bullet between you eyes."  
Ramirez just sits there sulking, saying nothing to defend himself. He doesn't see fit to give any reason, although they would be feeble; as to why he tortured and probably murdered dozens of women.  
"You don't have anything to say? I didn't think so. You don't deserve to breathe the same air as decent people anymore." I say as I put the life-taking bullet between his eyes.  
I turn to Tank and tell him.  
"Get a clean-up crew to get this slime off of the cell floor."  
Tank nods and grunts out a "Hoo-rah" as I make my way back out the door. I sprint up the stairs back to the 3rd floor. Bobby should be about done with Steph by now.  
I walk into the clinic just as Bobby is taping the bandage down on Steph's stitched up wound.  
"How ya feeling now babe?" I ask her.  
"Better, like I'm floating." She giggles.  
"Numbing agent and pain meds man." Bobby informs me.  
"Don't worry, I'll drive her home and tuck her into bed." I tell him.  
"Our guest taken care of?" Bobby asks me.  
"Clean-up crew is taking care of the sludge left on the floor as we speak. Did you get your chance?"  
Bobby nods to me and says. "Hoo-rah".  
I nod back and speak to Steph again. "You ready to go get some rest now babe?"  
She just nods back, looks like she is getting sleepy now. Must have been some good stuff Bobby gave her. I pick her up and carry her to the elevator. I make my way to my truck and gently sit her in the passenger seat buckling her in snugly.  
I take her home and settle her in the bed for the night. I curl up behind her after I remove my weapons and clothes, leaving me in my only pair of black silk boxers. I pull her into me, spooning her. I wrap my arm around her waist.   
She has already fallen asleep. I lie awake for a while thinking of how proud I am of her for getting Morelli. Him as a first case would have been hard on anyone, but she never gave up. She's like a pit bull with a bone. I am so proud of her. I think to myself as I begin to doze off, too. 'I can't wait to see what our next adventure is!' ################

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N : Well that's it folks, my take on how OFTM should have been. I have planned on doing 4 more stories in this series, 4 more books to get re-done with my twist. I will be posting a short epilogue chapter for this story with a sneak peek into the next book I plan one re-hashing. So keep those reviews coming. I love every one of them!!   
> Rain (Jackie)


	10. Epi and sneak peek of "Hotter Six"

SPOV

"Damn it white girl, why you gotta be bringing me into shit like this?! You know how much I hate finding dead bodies!! I just know my stomach is gonna mess up, I can feel it churning now!" I hear Lula screech at me.  
But I am too flabbergasted by the sight in front of me. Sitting dead as a door nail, in this silver Porsche no less; with a bullet hole between his eyes is a mafia-looking guy.  
I have no clue who he is. He doesn't look familiar at all to me. I just have that funny feeling in the pit of my stomach. Partly because once again I am confronted with another dead body, and partly because I just saw my beloved Ric walk away from this house cloaked in darkness and mystery last night.  
I know in my heart that he didn't do this. But the Police and everyone else would love to pin this homicide on him, too.  
I finally turn to answer Lula. Sighing deeply I begin.  
"Lula, you think I like finding dead bodies?! Just once I wish my life could be normal. Well normal without the bodies turning up all the time. The rest of the Burg normal can kiss my ass!"  
"I hear ya. I don't blame you much either. I never cared what other folks thought about me either, given my previous occupation and all." She admits.  
"I know and I don't care about it either, you're a good person Lula, that's what matters. Now what do we do about this?" I say as I point to the most recent deceased member of Trenton's "society". I use that term loosely and for lack of a better term.  
"I don't know. Don't Stiva's have night drop off box or something?" Lula inquires.  
"Geez." I just shake my head and roll my eyes.  
I think on it for a bit. Then I let Lula know what I have decided to do.  
"OK, here's the deal. We get the hell out of dodge and make an anonymous phone call to the TPD." I tell her.  
"Sounds like a plan to me white girl. Let's get the hell outta here. I could use some Cluck-in-a-Bucket right now anyhow." She declares.  
I guess her stomach is feeling better now that she's getting away from the dead body.  
We quietly lock everything up as it was before and make quick tracks out of the vicinity. After we are safely away, I pull into a gas station and make the call to the TPD so they can do their thing.  
With that taken care of, I take Lula over to Cluck-in-a-Bucket and sigh as she buys out the entire menu. My appetite is long gone.  
I hope I get a chance to talk to Ric tonight. He has some explaining to do!! #####


End file.
